Eleonora Stilinski
by FanfictionWriter1009
Summary: Eleonora (Ellie) Stilinski is the perfect cheerleader popular high school student. Until her best friend Scott gets bitten by a werewolf and then things change completely for the 16 year old girl who falls in love with the one person she never expected to fall in love with. (Also published on ArchoveOfOurOwn by me)
1. Chapter 1: Wolf Moon

Wolf Moon.

I stood down in the front garden of the McCall household, looking up with an amused and exasperated expression as my twin brother climbed up the balcony into our best friend's room. I folded my arms as it went quiet then jumped as I heard Scott and Stiles both scream at the sight of each other.

"Stiles what the hell are you doing?!" I heard Scott exclaim.

"You weren't answering your phone," Stiles replied. "Why do you have a bat?" He then questioned.

"I thought you were a predator," Scott replied. I snorted at this and he leaned over the balcony, waving at me. I held my hand up in way of greeting.

"Look I know it's late but you gotta hear this. Me and Ellie saw our Dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even State Police," Stiles said.

"For what?" Scott asked.

"Two joggers found a body in the woods," Stiles replied.

"A dead body?" Scott asked in reply.

"No, a body of water...yes dumb ass, a dead body. Now will you both get down here so I don't look like a creepy stalker whose talking to myself?" I said and both of them began to climb down to me.

"You mean like murdered?" Scott asked us as they both landed on the ground beside me.

"Nobody knows yet, just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties," I answered him.

"Hold on, if they found her body, then what are they looking for?"

"That's the best part," Stiles said and I shot him a 'wtf' look. "They only found half, we're going,"

"We're seriously doing this?" Scott asked, looking between us.

"Well, I don't particularly want to come across half of a dead body but according to Stiles,I'm a young girl alone in her house while a murderer may be at large, so I've got to go with my older twin brother so he can "protect" me," I replied. Stiles just glared at me.

"You two always bitch about nothing ever happening in this town," He pointed out to us.

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow," Scott said.

"Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a gruelling effort," Stiles quipped back.

"No, because I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm making first line," Scott replied.

"Aim high...anyway, some of us actually do have practice tomorrow. Cheerleading practice. Which I'm co-captain of, may I remind you," I said. "Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for exactly? Since you were the one listening in to the conversation," I added to my brother.

"I didn't even think about that," Stiles replied.

"Oh great.." I said, then began to move to mine and Stiles' shared jeep. "I'm driving," I said as I got into the drivers seat.

We reached the outskirts of the wood and climbed out of the jeep, Stiles with the flashlight.

"Right so...what if whoever killed the body is still out here?" Scott asked as I linked arms with him.

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles replied, walking slightly in from of us.

"It's comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail," I said to him.

"I know," Stiles said, shooting me a grin.

"You know...maybe the girl and asthmatic should be ones to hold the flashlight, huh?" Scott suggested, noticing the slight fear on my face. Suddenly Stiles grabbed us both and yanked us down to the ground level. I looked up and saw the several flashlights from the police who were close to us.

"Wait...come on!" Stiles said, getting up and beginning to run. I got up, helping Scott up and began to follow my brother.

"Stiles! Wait up!" I shouted after him.

"Stiles! Ellie!" I heard Scott shout behind me.

"Hold it right there!" I heard a cop shout and ran into a clearing where there were several police around Stiles, including our father. I sighed.

"The girl is also mine," Dad admitted, shooting us both glares.

"To my defence, I was dragged out here," I said.

"So, do you, uh, listen in to all of my phone calls?" Dad said to Stiles.

"No...not the boring ones," Stiles replied.

"Now...where's the third of you troublemakers?" Dad asked, looking around us. I turned around and saw that indeed, Scott wasn't with us.

"Who. Scott? Scott's at home. He said he wanted to get a good nights sleep for first day back at school tomorrow, it's just me and Ellie. In the woods," a Stiles said, sounding as unbelieving in his lie as usual.

"Scott you out there?" Dad called and when he received no reply he shrugged. "Well, you two, I'm gonna walk you back to the car. And then you and I, Stiles, are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy," Dad said, helping Stiles up and leading us to the path back to the car. I turned to Stiles.

"You better hope that Scott gets out of here okay," I hissed to him warningly before following Dad.

The next morning Stiles and I got out of the jeep and I waved 'hello' at various people who I knew or were friends with. To say I was popular than Stiles was an admission from Stiles himself. He knew I was more popular and accepted it but I knew it was only due to the fact that I was co-Captain on the cheerleading team. I saw Jackson Whittemore say something to Scott then walk off. I rolled my eyes and walked in the direction of Scott, Stiles following me. As I approached him, I put my hand on his shoulder and he turned around with a smile.

"Hey," I said, hugging him carefully as I knew he'd been injured the night before.

"Hey Elles," He replied.

"Okay, let's see this thing," Stiles said in way of greeting and as Scott pulled his shirt up, I saw the bandage on his stomach that showed signs of the wound still bleeding. "Whoa!" Stiles exclaimed. I touch it carefully, judging Scott's reaction and not pressing too carefully.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah...it was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf," He said.

"A wolf bit you?" Stiles asked.

"Uh huh," Scott replied.

"No, not a chance," Stiles dismissed.

"Well something did," I said with raised eyebrows.

"I heard a wolf howling," Scott said.

"No, you didn't," Stiles dismissed once again.

"What do you mean? How do you know what he heard?" I asked Stiles, wondering what was up with him.

"Because California doesn't have wolves, Ellie... Not in like sixty years," Stiles explained. I stared at him in surprise, as did Scott.

"Really?" Scott asked.

"Yes really. There are no wolves in California," Stiles said.

"All right, well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not gonna believe me about when I tell you I found the body," Scott said. I turned to him shocked.

"You-are you kidding me?" Stiles asked in reply.

"No man, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month," Scott replied as the bell rang and we started to head towards the door of the high school.

"Oh god, that is freakin' awesome! I mean this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since- since the birth of Lydia Martin," Stiles said as he saw Lydia walk past him. "Hey Lydia- you look-like you're gonna ignore me," He trailed off.

"Lyds! I called and she turned and looked at me with a smile. "Wait up!" I called, then I turned to Stiles and Scott. "See ya later boys," I said and walked off to join my other best friend.

"Well you look gorgeous," Lydia observed.

"Hmmm...so do you," I replied.

"So, how's life with the brother?" She asked as we walked to our home room.

"It's Stiles..." I replied in way of response. Lydia smiled knowingly. I'd shared many stories with Lydia about Stiles and Scott. "Anyway...how are you and Jacksom?" I asked as we took our seat in our usual seats in home room.

"We're good. Really good," Lydia replied. I shot her a smile and laughed.

After homeroom we'd heard about the new girl and as we entered the main hallway where our lockers were, I saw the new girl, standing next to the open locker, beside my locker.

"That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd did you get it?" Lydia said to her with a smile as we approached her.

"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco," She replied.

"And you are our new best friend." I replied as I opened my locker and stored my bag in there.

"Hey Jackson," I heard Lydia say and turned to see her kiss him. I shared an uncomfortable smile with Allison.

"So this weekend, there's a party," I started.

"A party?" Allison said.

"Yeah- Friday night, you should come," Jackson added.

"Uh! I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking," Allison replied.

"You sure? Everyone's going after the scrimmage," Lydia said.

"You mean like football?"

"Footballs a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years," Jackson explained to her.

"Because of a certain team captain," Lydia said with a brightening smile to him.

"Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is, if you don't have anywhere else," Jackson said.

"Or you could come cheerleading practice with me? Try out for the team?" I asked. Allison nodded at me and I smiled. "Let's go. I've got to get changed and go to pitch toward up before Riley arrives, I'll see you two down there?" I directed the last part to Jackson and Lydia who nodded with smiles to me. Allison and I had left them and began walking down to the girl's changing rooms. "So your whole family moved with you?" I asked her curiously. She nodded in reply.

"What about you? You live with the whole of your family?" She asked in reply.

"Erm...sort of. I live with my Dad and twin brother. My Mom died six years ago," I answered. Alison's face dropped.

"I'm sorry," She said.

"It's fine. I mean I rememberer it and her and everything but I was ten so I didn't really fully comprehend it until much later," I said. Allison nodded.

"So your twin brother? Do you get along with him?" She asked as I began changing into my cheerleading practice clothes.

"Yeah, actually. Maybe it's because Dad died or because we're twins but we have a close bond. Stiles looks out for me and I look out for him," I answered. "You'll get to meet him and our other friend, Scott, actually...they're both on the Lacrosse team with Jackson. I say that, they're bench warmers but you gotta start somewhere," I added and Allison smiled. I finished tying my cheerleading shoes and then dumped my other clothes and gym bag into my locker in the changing room. "Right come on," I said and we made out way out onto the pitch where the cheerleaders and lacrosse mingled before practice started. As I walked out, I saw eyes on me and Allison and the cheerleaders started to disperse away from the lacrosse players. I waved at Stiles and Scott and both waved back. "Come on girls!" I shouted. "Riley is on her way and we need to get warmed up," I added as they got into their performances places and lines, whilst I looked across the field to where the guys had started their lacrosse practice.

"Elles...we need you to come with us...find Scott's inhaler," Stiles told me after practice was over. I turned to Scott and smiled at him. He'd done brilliantly in goal at practice.

"Sure," I said sweetly, then turned to Stiles with a sour expression. "It's a good thing I didn't bother to change after practice," I added as I climbed into the jeep beside Stiles as Scott jumped into the back.

Ten minutes later we reached the area of the woods where we'd been last night- or where Scott had ended up last night.

"I don't- I don't know what it was," Scott was talking about the miraculous turn over of his talent at Lacrosse. "It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I- I can- I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things," He finished.

"Smell things? Like what?" Stiles asked, sharing a look with me.

"Like the mint-mojito gum in your pocket," Scott replied.

"I don't have any mint gum in my pocket..." Stiles trailed off as he pulled out the gum stick in shock. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at Scott.

"So all this started with a bite," I stated.

"What if it's like an infection, like, my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?" Scott asked.

"You know what? I actually think I've heard of this- it's a specific kind of infection," Stiles spoke up.

"Are you serious?" Both Scott and I asked him, looking at each other awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah I think it's called lycanthropy," Stiles stated. I tutted in response, but Scott didn't catch on.

"What's that? Is that bad?" He asked Stiles.

"Oh yeah it's the worst. But only once a month," Stiles replied.

"Once a month?"

"Yep. On the night of a full moon." Stiles said then howled as both of us gave him an exasperated look. "Hey, look you're the one who heard a wolf howling,"

"Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me," Scott said in defence.

"I know! You're a werewolf! Rrrrr!" Stiles teased. "Okay, obviously, I'm kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's cause Friday's a full moon," He added.

"Stiles, stop it. Scott's got a point. He could have an infection," I said, stopping as I looked around like Scott was doing. "Are we close yet?" I asked him.

"No..I don't know. I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler," He answered me.

"Maybe the killer moved the body," Stiles suggested, his hand coming to my shoulder.

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks," Scott replied dryly.

"What are you doing here?" I swivelled on the spot as I heard the strange voice behind me. In front of me stood a tall, incredibly good looking, older guy. "This is private property," He added.

"We are so sorry, we didn't know," I replied apologetically. I saw the guy's eyes running over my body slightly and tried not to blush.

"Yeah we were just looking for something. But- forget it." Scott added. He turned to us. "All right, come on. I gotta get to work,"

The guy in front of us threw Scott his inhaler and he caught it. My eyes widened briefly and then I sent the guy a small smile and dragged both Scott and Stiles out of there by their hands.

"That was Derek Hale," Stiles said suddenly. "You remember right, Ellie? He's only like a few years older than us," I began to think and suddenly the pieces connected.

"Remember what?" Scott asked, sounding confused.

"His family," I said slowly. "They all burned to death in a fire...about ten years ago," Stiles nodded.

"I wonder what he's doing back," Scott said.

"No idea...however he's cute," I observed, catching the look on by brother and best friend's faces, and laughing loudly. "Come on, stop daydreaming about older guys and let's get to work," Scott said, laughing as he rested his arm around my shoulder. I smiled at him softly.

An hour later, Stiles had dropped us off at the veterinary clinic and I had changed into my former clothes from earlier. Scott and I were sorting out files and getting ready to close up when I saw him wince slightly as he bent over.

"Come on," I said to him. "Let's get that cleaned up, change the dressing or something in case it really is infected," He nodded and let me lead him to the bathroom. I grabbed the antiseptic and anti bacterial medicine to use and I sat on the toilet as Scott stood in front of me. He lifted his shirt and I began to pull the dressing off to find no wound there. "What?" I whispered to myself in shock. I heard Scott's stuttered breathing and I let his slightly frightened gaze with one of my own. "I don't..." I trailed off.

"Let's just close up properly and sort stuff out tomorrow," Scott said. I nodded, still in shock in what I'd saw but understanding why Scott wasn't wanting to confront this head on.

I helped him drag the bag of cat food to where the cats who stayed overnight were kept.

"Hey kitties," Scott said as he entered the room and suddenly all the cats starting screeching and trying to escape the carriers they were in to get to Scott. I looked at him in complete and utter shock, then dropped my end of the sack, forced Scott to do the same and then ushered him out of the room, shutting the door behind me and looking through the window to see they calmed down instantly. The silence stretched between us then the front door to the clinic was knocked upon, making me jump. We walked to the door and saw it was Allison stood outside, crying.

"Hi," Scott said.

"I didn't see it. I took my eyes off the road for, like, two seconds to change the song on my iPod, and then this dog, it just came out of nowhere!" Allison rambled hysterically.

"It's all right, it's all right, it's all right," I said reassuringly, taking her shoulders in my hands to calm her down slightly. She hugged me tightly and I rubbed her back.

"Do you remember where it happened so I can send Animal Control to find it?" Scott asked.

"No! I mean, yes, I know where I hit it, but the dog is-" Allison broke off.

"Where is it?" Scott asked her.

"It's in my car," She replied and we made our way to the back of the car and Allison opened it to reveal a barking dog. Both her and I jumped back in surprise.

"You okay?" Scott asked the both of us. "She's just frightened," He added.

"That makes two of us," Allison stated.

"Let me see if I have any better luck." Scott said, leaning forward to the dog and staring at her. I thought for a moment, I saw something flash in his eyes or something but then he had straightened up and was motioning for me to help him pick the dog up to get into the clinic.

We both examined her and finally stood up straight.

"We think her leg is broken. I've seen the doctor do plenty of splints, I can do it myself and then give her a painkiller for now." Scott told Allison. He looked at her for a moment. "I have a shirt in my bag," He added, grabbing his bag and pulling out the spare shirt, handing it to him.

"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," Allison said, then she took the shirt off of him and went into the side room to change. I subtly saw Scott peering into the room and nudged him.

"Subtle," I muttered and he shook his head. Allison came back into the room at that moment.

"Thanks for doing this. I feel really stupid," She said to us.

"How come?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. 'Cause I freaked out like a total girl," She replied and I smiled.

"You are a girl," Scott stated.

"Oh, your levels of perception are on top form tonight," I teased him and Allison giggled.

"I freaked out like a girly girl and I'm not a girly girl," She said.

"What kind of girl are you?" Scott asked and I moved to let them speak more together. I wasn't blind, I could see Scott had a major crush on her.

Tougher than that, at least, I thought I was," Allison replied.

"Hey, we all need the night off at times," I spoke up.

"Trust me, both Ellie and I would be freaked out too. In fact, we'd probably cry. And me not like a man either. Like the biggest girly girl ever. It would be pathetic," Scott reassured her.

"Yeah right," Allison said and I nodded to back up Scott.

"So it looks like she's gonna live. And I'm pretty sure she'll even let you pet her now, if you want to," Scott said.

"I don't think so," Allison said immediately.

"Oh come on. You don't want her to sue. I hear this breed is very litigious," Scott joked, causing her to smile and reach out her hand to begin petting the dog. "You see?"

"She likes you," I commented and Allison grinned at me. Then she looked at Scott to see him staring at her.

"What?" She asked him softly.

"You have an eyelash on your cheek," he mumbled softly. I grinned in amusement.

"From the crying," Allison commented as she wiped it away.

"Yeah," Scott murmured.

"So um...I was wondering... Is it really family night on Friday, or do you think maybe you like to go to the party with Scott and me?" I asked her.

"Family night was a total lie but Lydia..." Allison said,

"Lydia's Lydia. I get ya," I replied.

"So is that a yes, you'll go?" Scott asked hopefully.

"Definitely yes," She said, looking at him. I smiled victoriously.

"Dad? Stiles?" I called as I got home around an hour later. Stiles waved at me from the living room where he was watching television. I went into him and sat down beside him, curling into him like I used to when we were younger.

"You okay, Elles?" He asked.

"Just tired," I replied and put my head on his shoulder.

The next day, there was no cheerlead practice. So that meant I was on the stand with Allison and Stiles. The dream I had woken up from had shaken me slightly. Werewolves. Or a specific one at least. Scott and the strange Derek Hale.

"Scott! Wait up!" I heard Stiles call as Scott moved away from beside me.

"Stiles, I'm playing the first elimination, man...can it wait?" Scott replied.

"Just hold on, okay? I overheard my Dad on the phone. The fiber analysis came back from the lab in LA. They found animal hairs on the body from the woods!" Stiles exclaimed. A cold trickle of fear ran up and down my back.

"Stiles, I gotta go," Scott said.

"Scott, wait no, you're not gonna believe what the animal was..." Scott walked away. "It was a wolf," Stiles trailed off to me more than Scott. I felt the shock run through me.

"A wolf," I questioned.

"Yeah," He said. As the game started, I lost myself in my thoughts. Nothing was making sense. Scott was no liar. I saw the bloody bandages yet there was no wound? And now he was great at lacrosse whereas he was completely failing last year? I knew he had been practicing but not enough to become better than Jackson Whittemore... I just...I saw Scott do a flip in the air and my breath drew quickly and then I real eased it almost as quickly again. As Scott was told he was made first line, I looked at Stiles.

"Stiles, I need to talk to you," I said softly. He nodded, his face holding the same expression that mind did. Of fear and confusion.

"He had no wound, Stiles. It was healed. And then he calmed the dog down and I saw something with his eyes, like they changed," I told my twin brother as I was sat on his bed, later that night. "I don't believe in this stuff, like you. I never have, but I can't not look at this and say that Scott hasn't changed since he was bitten. Something's happening, Stiles," I added. Stiles nodded and went to laptop, immediately beginning to research everything about were wolves and lycanthropy. I helped out a bit, flicking through various books Stiles owned and gave to me to look through.

A sudden knock on Stiles bedroom door made me jump and Stiles got up to answer it.

"Get in. You gotta see this thing," He said and Scott appeared in the bedroom before me.

"Elles? You're hanging out with Stiles?" Scott asked.

"We've been up all night for hours, reading- websites, books. All this information," Stiles added with a grin to me.

"How much Adderall have you had today?" Scott asked Stiles.

"A lot...that doesn't matter. Just listen," I replied as he sat down beside me on the bed.

"Oh, is this about the body? Did they find out who did it?" Scott asked.

"No. They're still questioning people, even Derek Hale," Stiles replied. I felt a shiver run through me and I knew Stiles had caught it but didn't seem to question it.

"Oh the guy in the woods that we saw the other day," Scott said.

"Yeah, but that's not it, okay?" Stiles said.

"What then?" Scott asked, looking between us. I looked at Stiles and he looked at me for a moment.

"Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore. The wolf-the bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading. Do you even know why a wolf howls?" Stiles said to Scott.

"Should I?" Scott asked us.

"It's a ? When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal it's location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of them," I explained.

"A whole pack of wolves?" Scott asked. Stiles and I paused again, looking at each other.

"No, Scott. Werewolves," I said softly.

"Are you both seriously wasting my time with this?" Scott questioned us. "You know I'm picking Allison up in an hour. Elles, you should be getting ready," He added.

"I saw you on the field today, Scott. Okay, what you did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible," Stiles said,

"Yeah so I made a good shot,"

"No, you made an incredible shot. I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes. People can't just suddenly do that overnight. And there's the vision and the senses..." I trailed off. "Do you even realise that you haven't needed your inhaler anymore?" I asked him.

"Okay? I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow," Scott said dismissively.

"Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?" Stiles exclaimed.

"What are the both of you trying to do? I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you both trying to ruin it?" He asked us.

"We're trying to help you," Stiles exclaimed. "You're cursed, Scott. You know, and it's not just the moon will cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at it's peak," He continued.

"Bloodlust?" Scott questioned.

"Yeah, your urge to kill," Stiles answered.

"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles," Scott said pointedly, looking at us both.

"You gotta hear this," Stiles started then began to read out of the book on his desk. "The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse." He stopped reading. "I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You gotta cancel this date. I'm gonna call her right now," Stiles finished, reaching for Scott's bag. I immediately sensed something bad was going to happen.

"What are you doing?" Scott questioned him.

"I'm cancelling your date," Stiles replied.

"No, give it to me!" Scott shouted, lunging for Stiles to reach his phone back off of my brother.

"Scott!" I screamed as Scott rammed Stiles into the wall beside his desk and then tipping his chair over. It went eerily silent in the room and I stared wide eyed at my friend who had turned so violent.

"I'm sorry," Scott said softly. "I- I gotta go," He added, walking to the door, past me. "I'm sorry," He said once more and then disappeared. Stiles banged his head against the wall in frustration.

"Are you okay?" I asked him softly and he nodded gently. I felt a shiver go through me again.

"We need to get to that party," Stiles said. I nodded in agreement as I saw the slash marks in the back of the now righted chair.

"I'm...uh... Going to get ready," I said and left the room in my own thoughts.

"Wow. This is a big party," Stiles said as we entered the house and looked around. I shot him an amused smile.

"It's only because you hardly come to one of these...now, come on, mingle." I said as I pulled him through the crowds. I saw a guy from the lacrosse team called Harry approach us,can easy smile on his face.

"Hey Elles," He said. "Hey, Stiles," He added to Stiles, who nodded in greeting. "So how come you dragged your brother here?" He asked me.

"Because I'm bonding with him," I replied. "You haven't seen Scott have you?" I asked him in addition. He shook his head.

"Not since he walked through here with the new girl...they might be by the pool though," He replied.

"Thanks Harry," I replied.

"No problem Elles and uh, save me a dance later?" He said with a wink before walking off.

"Please tell you're still a virgin?" Stiles whined a moment later. I swatted him in annoyance.

"Yes. Now, look out for Scott," I replied, then it caught sight of something that made me shiver again. Derek Hale was here. His gaze met mine and I stilled momentarily. I went to walk towards him and then I saw Scott walking towards Stiles and me, acting strange.

"Scott, you okay?" I asked him, putting my hand on his back. He just shrugged me off and went outside the house, Allison and I following him, watching him drive off. I looked around for Stiles and saw only Derek instead.

"Allison, I'm a friend of Scott and Ellie. My name's Derek," He said to Allison. His eyes flickered to me and so did Allison's. I nodded my head to her, feeling like Derek was doing this for a purpose to help us. "Would you like a lift home?" He then asked. Allison turned to me.

"I'm going to find Stiles and check on Scott," I told her. "I'm sure Derek will get you home safe," I added and she nodded and walked off with him to her car.

"Is that-?" Stiles questioned me and I nodded.

"Come on, we need to make sure Scott's okay," I said and headed towards our own jeep.

I entered Scott's house and ran to his room, banging on it.

"Go away," Scott said, sounding panicked.

"Scott it's us. Let us in," I said.

"We can help," Stiles added.

"No!" Scott exclaimed. "Listen, you gotta find Allison."

"She's fine, all right? She got a ride from the party...she's totally fine, all right?" I said in reply, reassuringly.

"No, I think I know who it is," Scott said.

"You just let us in. We can try-" stiles was cut off.

"It's Derek." Scott's words made me still and fear run through me. "Derek Hale is the werewolf. He's the one that bit me. He's the one that killed the girl in the woods," He finished.

"Oh my god," I said softly in fear. "Scott- Derek's the one who drove Allison home. I thought he seems safe," I added. Suddenly I heard banging from inside the room.

"Scott!" Stiles shouted.

"He's gone, Stiles. Oh my god, we need to get to Allison's," I said hurriedly as we made our way downstairs.

"Do you know where her house is?" Stiles asked me. I nodded as we made our way to the jeep once again.

I left the jeep running as I jumped out and hit the doorbell and then knocked on the door. I heard Stiles behind me as the door opened and a woman appeared.

"Hi, Mrs Argent," I greeted. "Um, you have no idea who I am. I'm a friend of Allison." I said. "This is going to sound crazy but...really crazy actually..."

"Allison! It's for you," Allison's mother called and Allison appeared on the landing balcony, her eyes on us curiously. I breathed out in replied and heard Stiles do the same behind me.

"Ellie? You okay?" Allison asked us.

"Scott hasn't been by or is here? By any chance?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Okay. Sorry to waste your time. We'll get a move on and let you know more later," I said hurriedly.

"Ellie? Is he okay?" Allison asked me, causing me to turn back to her.

"He's just freaked about something, Allison. I'll call you or text you later, I promise," I replied and she nodded with a thankful smile. I then led Stiles back to the jeep.

"So, now what do we do?" Stiles asked.

"I think we go home and sit tight to wait for Scott to contact us," Stiles went to protest. "Stiles. Whatever Derek was doing tonight, I believe it was to help Scott. So, let's just hope that he's okay. Besides we can't do anything, he's a werewolf.. He could hurt the pair of us before we actually help him," I finished. Stiles nodded.

"Let's get home then," He said.

The next morning, after no sleep, Stiles and I drove around to see if we could find Scott after no word from him all night. We drove around the woods when we saw him walking shirtless and we pulled up beside him, letting him get in. I grabbed Stiles jacket and pulled it around Scott's shoulders as we moved off again.

"You know what actually worries me the most?" Scott asked.

"If you say Allison, I'm gonna punch you in the head," Stiles quipped.

"She probably hates me now," Scott moaned.

"I covered you to some extent." I told him and he smiled to me gratefully.

"Yeah, but you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology. Or you know, you could just- tell her the truth and- revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a fricking werewolf," Stiles said. Both Scott and I gave him looks. "Okay bad idea." Stiles amended.

"Hey,we'll get through this. Come on, if we have to Stiles and I will chain you up ourselves on full moon nights and feed you live mice...well, Stiles can. That's not my forte but he had a boa once," I said, making the both of them smile at me and Scott grabbed my hand, holding it tightly.


	2. Chapter 2: Second Chance at First Line

I heard the crunch from the stand of Jackson he hit the floor and I then ran from the cheerleaders and over to Scott as he hit the ground in what seemed like pain.

"Scott?" I asked as I knelt beside him, putting my hand on his shoulders as Stiles joined us.

"I can't control it. It's happening," Scott panted as his teeth began to grow.

"What? Right now? Here?" Stiles questioned, looking like he was going to panic. I sighed and began to help Scott up.

"Come on, let's get you up," I murmured. "Let's get him to the changing rooms," I added to Stiles, looki over my shoulder to see the rest of the lacrosse team surrounding Jackson. I let Stiles and Scott go ahead and then I saw Derek watching from the sidelines of the pitch.

"Crap," I murmured under my breath.

"Get away from me!" I heard Scott yell as I reached the changing rooms. I then saw Scott lunging at Stiles, obviously going to attack him.

"Stiles!" I shouted and he ran towards me as my shout distracted Scott for a moment. Stiles grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it at Scott, before pushing me out of the room and behind him in way of protection. Scott didn't follow us.

"Stiles...what happened?" We heard from inside the changing room. We both peeked around the doorframe and saw Scott was his usual self. I sighed in relief as Stiles threw the fire extinguisher and his gloves down onto the floor.

"You tried to kill me. It's like I told you before. It's the anger. It's your pulse rising. It's a trigger," Stiles replied.

"But that's lacrosse. It's pretty violent game, if you haven't noticed," Scott said.

"Well, it's gonna be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field. You cannot play Saturday, Scott. You're going to have to get out of the game," I retorted.

"I'm first line," Scott said.

"Not anymore," Stiles said shortly. I felt my phone go off in the pack pocket of my leggings and sighed.

"Riley's pissed," I muttered as I replied to the text she had sent me. Stiles sent me a look and I shrugged my shoulders at him. "You wanna get on the wrong side of Riley Yardley?" I asked him. He put his hands up in surrender and shared a look with Scott as I walked back out to my cheerleading team.

"You and your tea," Stiles muttered as pressed the connection button to Skype with Scott later that night. I sat down on the larger chair he rarely used in the corner of the room and saw Scott's face appear in the screen of Stiles' laptop.

"What'd you find out?" He asked us immediately.

"Well, it's bad. Jackson's got a separated shoulder," I replied as I took a sip of my tea.

"Because of me?" Scott asked in shock.

"Because he's a tool," Stiles retorted.

"But is he gonna play?" Scott asked. I shrugged.

"Lydia said they don't know yet. Now they're just counting on you for Saturday..." I trailed off as I saw something that made me fearful immediately. I wrote out a message to Stiles quickly and felt him tense next to me as he looked behind Scott and then began to type a message to Scott to warn him.

"What? It looks like what?" Scott questioned as the screen froze but we could see hear the sound from inside Scott's bedroom. "Come on, damn it...what?" He yelped as I heard a snarl of anger.

"I saw you on the field," It was unmistakably Derek Hale's voice.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" I heard Scott asked, sounding scared and I gripped Stiles' hand.

"You shifted in front of them! If they find out what your are, they find out about me. About all of us. And then it's not just the hunters after us. It's everyone," Derek snarled.

"But- they didn't see anything! I swear...I"

"And they won't! Because if you even try to play in that game on Saturday - I'm gonna kill you myself," Derek's threat was like cold water being thrown on me. It went silent on the other side of the screen and I breathed deeply. I wasn't so sure anymore if Derek Hale was someone we could trust to help us or Scott.

Friday, Lydia was in a foul mood with Scott. And it was made even worse when she found out that he was not going to play on Saturday. In class, her and Scott was doing work on the board in the front of the whole class and I could tell it was when she was going to strike. I pulled out my phone as I received a text. Allison.

-you going out with us after the game tomorrow? x-

I began to reply, checking that the teacher wasn't going to see me.

-yeah...should be fun x-

I frowned and put my phone away as the teacher began to speak.

"Mr McCall, you're not even clasped to solving your problem," I saw Lydia return to her seat, a smile to me. I ran my fingers through my hair in exasperation.

"Hey come here!" Stiles said as Scott and I left Math together.

"What?" I asked him.

"Come here," He replied. "Tell me what they're saying. Can you hear them?" He added and we looked around the corner to see Stiles and mine's Dad stood there. I frowned. Scott listened for a moment or two.

"Curfew because of the body," Scott summarised.

"Unbelievable. Our Dad's out looking for a rabid animal, while the jerk- who actually killed the girl is just hang in' out, doing whatever he wants," Stiles said.

"Well, you can't exactly tell Dad the truth about Derek," I said.

"I can do something," Stiles said. I crossed my arms and looked at him solidly.

"Like what?" I asked him.

"Find the other half of the body," He said. I widened my eyes in surprise.

"Are you kidding?!" I hissed. Stiles just grinned, held up his hands and walked away down the corridor. "Stiles! Get back here!" I called after him. I looked to Scott and saw him staring into space; or more specifically, at Allison who was being introduced to Harry by Lydia. I saw him tense and sighed. "Oh go and talk to her!" I snapped and walked off after Stiles muttering "Men!" under my breath. I caught up with Stiles outside history and I tugged on his shoulder, pulling him into a side alcove.

"Whoah!" He exclaimed.

"Please tell me you are joking?" I said, ignoring his exclamation.

"What? It's the only way!" Stiles protested.

"Yeah, the only way to ensure that one of us gets bitten by Derek again or worse or really get into trouble with Dad." I answered.

"Ellie! We have to do something about him! He's dangerous!" Stiles hissed. I couldn't not agree with him. Derek was dangerous.

"Okay, fine. But please, let's plan this more carefully than last time," I said quietly. Stiles nodded.

"Okay...you're coming with us?" He asked. I nodded.

"Of course...if you and Scott are about to run into the woods again, I'm coming with you to make sure you get out alive," I said, then I hugged Stiles briefly and made my way to physics.

I sat at my usual seat in physics and then I saw Harry saunter up to me.

"You look...stressed," He commented, leaning on my desk, frowning slightly. "You okay?" He then asked.

"Brothers," I said in reply. "Annoying assholes...especially when they're your twin," I added and Harry smiled.

"Well, Stiles isn't around right now so just let me clear your mind of him for an hour or so," He said and gave me a genuine smile. I smiled back warmly.

I'd been home for an hour or so when Stiles came bounding into my room, looking excited.

"Adderall?" I pointed out to him, without looking up from my laptop screen.

"Already had it," He said.

"I can tell," I mused as I finally looked up to him. "Stiles, spit it out!" I demanded.

"Scott went to Derek's. He's found something out. We need to go now," Stiles rambled.

"Wait? What?!" I exclaimed. "Scott went to Derek's?" I questioned.

"Yeah! Now come on!" He added, pulling me up and dragging me out of my room.

Ten minutes later I found myself following Stiles into Scott's bedroom as he demanded

"What did you find? How did you find it? Where did you find it?" He questioned.

"And yes, he's had a lot of Adderall..." I added.

"I found something at Derek Hale's," Scott said to me.

"I know, Stiles told me...so what was it?" I asked him as I sat down on his bed,

"There something buried there- I could smell blood," Scott answered.

"That's awesome!" Stiles exclaimed. He immediately back tracked. "I mean, that's terrible. Whose blood?"

"I don't know. But when we do, your Dad nails Derek for the murder. And then you two can help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing. Because there's no way I'm not playing that game," Scott replied.

"Come on then," I said as I picked up my keys off of Scott's bed.

"Where are we going?" Scott asked as we made our way downstairs and to the front door. I turned to them as I pulled it open.

"The morgue of course. Where the first half of the body is so you can see if it's the same scent," I explained. Both looked at each other and then at me.

"Good plan, Elles," Stiles said, clapping his hand lightly on my shoulder.

"Why thank you, Stiles," I replied with a smile as I climbed into the driver's seat of the jeep.

"That way," I pointed to Scott in the direction of the morgue. He nodded, looked around and then went through the double doors. Stiles walked forward and then he stopped as he leant on the desk of the reception. I peered around the corner of the wall and saw Lydia, ducking back immediately, completely out of sight.

"Hey Lydia. You probably don't remember me. Um, I sit behind you in Biology. Uh, anyway, I always thought that we just had this kind of connection." At this, I held my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud. "Unspoken of course. Maybe it'd be kind of cool, to, get to know each other a little better," Stiles finished his little speech.

"Hold on, give me a second," Lydia replied. "Yeah, I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?" She asked.

"No, sorry. I'll just sit. You don't care," Stiles replied dejectedly and I felt bad for him. His crush on Lydia was cute.

"Okay?" I heard Lydia say. I caught sight of Stiles and shook my head at him, then looked for Scott to re emerge.

"Did he do it?" I heard Lydia ask a moment later.

"He said not to make a habit of it, but one cortisone shot won't kill me," Jackson replied in answer to her. I ducked back even more.

"You should get one before the game too," Lydia said. "The pros do it all the time. You want to be a little high school amateur? Or-do you want to go-pro?" She asked. I frowned at her tone. Lydia could be a bitch a lot of the time. I looked at Stiles's expression and guessed they were kissing. Suddenly Scott appeared and pulled his magazine from Stiles's face.

"Holy God!" Stiles exclaimed in fright.

"The scent was the same," Scott stated.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes," Scott replied.

"So he did bury the other half of the body on his property?" Stiles said.

"Which means we have proof he killed the girl," Scott said.

"I say we use it," Stiles decided.

"How?" Scott asked. As Stiles went to answer, I covered his mouth with my hand, ignoring his protests.

"Tell me something first." I said to Scott. "Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek, or because you want to play in the game and he said you couldn't?" I asked him.

"There were bite marks on the legs, Ellie, bite marks," Scott answered.

"Okay." I said, letting go of Stiles' jaw.

"Were gonna need a shovel," Stiles said, making his way to the entrance of the hospital.

"Oh my god...what the hell do I agree to?" I muttered as Scott and I followed him.

As the three of us climbed out of the jeep and began to unload the two shovels, Scott looked around.

"Wait, something's different," He stated.

"Different how?" I asked him, looking around too.

"I don't know. Let's just get this over with," Scott replied as we went to where Scott said the body was buried. As he and Scott began digging whilst I held the torch, I looked around nervously.

"This is taking too long," I said after a good ten minutes.

"Just keep going," Stiles said,

"And what if he comes back?" I asked him, looking around once more.

"Then you can bat your eyelashes at him or plan b, we get the hell out of here," Stiles replied. I rolled my eyes at him.

"What if he catches us?" Scott asked.

"I have a plan for that,"

"Which is? I asked.

"You run one way, Ellie and I run the other. Whoever he catches first, too bad," Stiles explained.

"Oh I hate that plan," I said.

"Oh, stop, stop stop," Stiles said suddenly and he bent down to untie the bag that they'd unearthed.

"Would you hurry?" I asked him, panic rising as I felt nervous.

"I'm trying. Did he have to tie the thing in, like, nine hundred knots?" I sighed and passed the torch to Scott.

"I'll do it," I said as I began to untangle the knots more quickly. As I pulled the bag open, I fell back in fright.

"What the hell is that?" Stiles asked,

"It's a wolf," Scott answered.

"Yeah, I can see that, I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood," I replied.

"I told you something was different," Scott retorted as he helped me up to stand. I leaned against him slightly.

"This doesn't make any sense," Stiles said.

"We gotta get out of here," Scott added a few moments later.

"Yeah. Okay, help me cover this up," Stiles replied and he leant down to cover the body of the wolf up once more. I looked around and focused my torchlight on something that caught my eye. A lone plant a few feet away from us.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Scott asked me.

"Stiles, you see that flower?" I asked my brother. Stiles looked up and he looked at the plant for a moment.

"What about it?" Scott asked.

"I think it's wolfsbane," I told him.

"What's that?" Scott asked us. Stiles and I both looked at him.

"Uh, haven't you ever seen the Wolfman?" I asked him.

"No," He replied shortly, looking confused.

"Lon Chaney Junior? Claude Rains? The original, classic werewolf movie?" Stiles ranted off.

"No! What?" Scott replied, looking even more confused. As Stiles moved towards the plant, he muttered

"You are so unprepared for this," He carefully extracted the plant from the ground, revealing a piece of string which was tied onto the root of the plant. As Stiles pulled up the string, more and more appeared, lying under the ground in circles. I looked down at the body in the grave by chance and my breath stilled as I saw what was there, my hand reflexively going to my mouth.

"Scott," I whispered. Scott looked down at the body too and I felt him tense in shock.

"Stiles," Scott said calmly. Stiles, too, looked at the body.

"Holy-" He cut himself off, looking at us both in shock. I leant my head in his shoulder.

The next morning, Dad had been told about the body and Stiles, Scott and I all found ourselves back at Derek's house, with a load of crime scene investigators with us. Scott and I stood by the jeep, watching as Derek got arrested and took into the back of Dad's police car.

I looked around for Stiles and then saw as he walked out of the trees and straight to Dad's car, climbing in.

"Oh god," Scott groaned, turning around. I sighed and walked to the police car, climbing into the driving seat.

"Stiles, what the hell are you doing?" I questioned, not meeting Derek's eyes.

"I just wanna know something." Stiles continued to Derek, ignoring me. "The girl you killed- she was a werewolf," He stated. I looked at Derek and saw something rush through his eyes that made me question his guilt. "She was a different kind, wasn't she? I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf, and I know Scott can't do that. Is that why you killed her?"

"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem?" Derek asked. "When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do. Just keep cheering him on? I can't stop him from playing. But you can. And trust me- you want to,"

At that moment, Dad yanked Stiles out of the car, but I paused from retreating myself. I met Derek's gaze.

"Oh my god...you didn't kill her, did you?" I said slowly. He looked away.

"Ellie! Out!" Dad commanded and I slid out of the car, walking around it to stand beside stiles.

"I'm just trying to help," He said.

"Okay, well, how 'bout you help me understand exactly how you two came across this," Dad replied, looking between the two of us.

"We were looking for Scott's inhaler," I supplied helpfully.

"Which he dropped when?" Dad asked.

"The other night," Stiles replied.

"The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body," Dad summarised.

"Yes," Stiles said.

"The night that you told me you two were alone and Scott was at home," Dad then said, making me freeze and Stiles to do so to.

"Yes. No, oh crap," He blundered.

"So you two lied to me," Dad stated.

"Well, that depends on how you define lying," Stiles said.

"Well, I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define if?" Dad replied.

"Mm..reclining your body in a horizontal postion?" Stiles answered. I rolled my eyes at his answer.

"Get the hell out of here," Dad said, more to Stiles than to me.

"Absolutely," Stiles muttered and we made our way back to the jeep and climbed in, driving out of the woods and onto the main road. Scott was looking through the internet about wolfsbane.

"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial," Je said after a few minutes.

"Just keep looking." Stiles replied.

"Maybe it's like a ritual or something, like maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn," I added.

"I'll put it on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight," Scott replied.

"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves," Stiles suggested.

"Okay! Stop it!" Scott commanded.

"Stop what?" I questioned, looking confused at him.

"Stop saying "werewolves"! Stop enjoying this so much, the pair of you!" Scott shouted.

"You think I'm enjoying this?" I questioned him, my temper rising.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked, looking closely at Scott. I looked at him too and realised, he didn't look right.

"No! No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay," He panted.

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott, sooner or later," Stiles said firmly.

"I can't," Scott said.

"Well, you're gonna have to," Stiles pressured.

"No! I can't breath! Ahh!" Scott got out.

"Pull over!" I exclaimed to Stiles and looked down at the bag in front of me, catching sight of something. I lifted the bag out and pulled out the wolfsbane. "You kept it?" I asked him.

"What was I supposed to do with it?" Stiles questioned.

"Stop the car!" I commanded once more and Stiles did so, grabbing the bag of wolfsbane and chucking it far away, down a hill. I got out of the car behind him.

"Okay- okay. We're good, can you-" Stiles turned to me and stopped abruptly. "Scott? Scott?" He questioned. I turned and saw Scott had vanished.

"Oh you have to be kidding me," I said.

Scott was okay after his disappearance earlier. I was now back at school for the game, kitted out in my cheerleading uniform. We were warming up whilst the crowd was arriving and the team was changing. I saw Allison arriving with what looked like her Dad and I waved to her with a smile, them waved to Lydia too. I was finished warming up as I saw the teams arriving and I frowned at Stiles. This game was going to end in disaster.

"You okay, Ellie?" Riley asked me.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," I replied, straightening up and turned to Stiles. "Just not sure everyone else is going to be," I muttered as we began our performance and heard cheering from our half of the stands.

Soon our performance was finished and got up from my postion on the ground, smiling at everyone and turning to Riley.

"I think we did good there," She said, hi fiving me. I smiled and turned as the game began. I went and sat beside Stiles, putting my jacket on as it was a seriously cold night.

"Hey, you two," Dad said from behind us. "Good job, Elles. Stiles, we seeing any action tonight?" He asked. Stiles and I shared a sidelong glance.

"Maybe," He said. Dad walked off once more and I turned to Stiles.

"Stiles, something bad is going to happen. I can feel it," I hissed.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know. I just...can feel it," I replied. Stiles looked at me for a few moments, before concentrating on the game once more.

I watched as Scott disappeared and Allison followed him. I looked around to see Stiles had gone too.

"Oh for the love of god!" I exclaimed. Suddenly Stiles came barreling past me, grabbing my hand and taking me with him. We entered the changing rooms to see Scott and Allison kissing. I pulled him back so we didn't interrupt them, smiling softly. Eventually she came past us with a smile.

"Hey, Stiles, Ellie," She said before walking out of the changing room.

"I kissed her," Scott said.

"We saw," I replied with a smile.

"She kissed me," He said.

"Saw that too," Stiles replied this time. "That's pretty good, huh?" He then added.

"I-I-I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back. Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad," Scott said.

"Yeah, heh, We'll talk later, then," Stiles said.

"What?" Scott asked.

"The uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found," Stiles said.

"And..." I trailed off.

"Well, I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek's human, not animal. Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail," Stiles explained. I let out a breath.

"Are you kidding?" Scott asked.

"No, and here's a bigger kick in the ass," Stiles added. "Dad ID 'd the dead girl. Both halves. Her name was Laura Hale," I felt a shock run through me.

"Hale?" I asked quietly.

"Derek' sister," Stiles told us.

"Oh my god," I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach. Now I was sure that Derek really wasn't the killer. Not when it was his own sister.


	3. Chapter 3: Pack Mentality

"So you killed her?" Stiles asked Scott as we walked into the school hallway.

"I don't know. I just woke up. And I was sweating like crazy, and I couldn't breathe," He paused. "I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before," He added.

"Really? I have." Stiles replied. "Usually ends a little differently," I shot Stiles a look.

"Okay...A he meant he's never had a dream that felt hat real and B...please do not give me that much detail about you in bed ever again," I said sternly.

"Noted," Stiles said, sharing an amused look with Scott. Let me take a guess here-"

"No," Scott cut him off. "I know, you think it has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow...like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out," He said.

"No of course not," We both gave him a look. "Yeah that's totally it." He amended. "Hey, come on, it's gonna be fine, all right?" He said.

"Personally I think you're handling this pretty freaking amazingly. You know, it's not like there a lycanthropy or beginners class you can take," I added.

"Yeah, not a class." Scott agreed. "But maybe a teacher?" He needed hesitantly.

"Who, Derek?" I guessed.

"You forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail?" Stiles added.

"Yeah, I know, but chasing her, dragging her to the back of the bus, it felt so real," Scott reasoned.

"How real?" Stiles asked as we reached the back doors of the school and stopped stock still in shock and horror. There, in front of us, was one of the school buses, back door ripped off, blood everywhere.

"Oh my god..." I whispered.

"Like it actually happened," Scott whispered beside me.

"I think it did," Stiles said from the other side of me. I pulled out my phone and texted Allison quickly, as did Scott.

We walked back inside, Scott panicking slightly.

"She's probably fine," Stiles tried to reassure him.

"She's not answering my text, Stiles. What about you, Ellie?" Scott replied. I shook my head, biting my lip.

"It could just be a coincidence, all right? A seriously amazing coincidence," Stiles tried to reassure us once again.

"Stiles, just help us find her," I told him.

"Do you see her?" Scott asked as we looked around the hallways.

"No," The both of us replied. Scott ran off and I turned to Stiles with slightly wide eyes.

"He's gonna lose control," I said quietly and went to follow him but couldn't find where he was.

At that moment, the overhead speaker sounded, indicating that the principal was about to speak.

"Attention students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about the incident that occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled." I sighed as Stiles groaned.

"Great, just what I need. Chemistry," I said as I moved to my locker to pull my books out.

"Maybe it was my blood on the door," Scott turned to me and Stiles as we sat in chemistry.

"Could have been animal blood. You know, maybe you caught a rabbit or something," I suggested.

"And did what?" Scott asked me.

"Ate it?" I suggested once more.

"Raw?" He questioned. I shot him a look.

"No, you stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven," I said sarcastically. "I don't know. You're the one who can't remember anything," I added, turning back to the board and taking more notes. Stiles and Scott began to talk more behind me.

"Mr Stilinksi, of that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you want to pull the headphones out every once in a while. I think you and Mr McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

"No," Stiles protested. Mr Harris pointed to an empty desk and Scott got up.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much," Mr Harris said. I shot him a glare which he returned with a sarcastic smile. I rolled my eyes and winked at Stiles, mouthing

"I got ya back," to make him smile.

"Hey I think they found something," Harley, a girl shouted, getting up to the window. We all followed her, Stiles coming to lean over my shoulder.

"That's not a rabbit," Scott whispered to us. Suddenly the guy that looked dead on the stretcher jumped up, screaming, making us all scream inside the classroom too.

"Okay, this is good. This is good. He got up, he's not dead. Dead guys can't do that," Stiles said, reassuring Scott.

"Stiles, Elles, I did that," Scott said softly to us as he moved away from the group of people crowded at the window.

"But dreams aren't memories, Scott," I said softly.

"Then it wasn't a dream. Something happened last night, and I can't remember what," Scott told us in a quiet tone.

At lunch I joined Stiles and Scott, rather than sit with Lydia and Jackson like I used too.

"What makes you so sure that Derek has all the answers?" Stiles asked Scott as I sat down in a seat beside him.

"Because during the full moon he wasn't changed. He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy," Scott replied.

"You don't know that," I pointed out.

"I don't not know it. I can't go out with Allison," He paused. "I have t cancel," He confirmed.

"No, you're not cancelling, okay? You can't just cancel your entire life...we'll figure it out...anyway, she's so excited about this. It would crush her," I replied.

"Figure out what?" Lydia's voice came behind me and I jumped as I looked around at her.

"Just homework," I replied calmly.

"Yeah," Stiles said. "Why is she sitting with us?" Stiles hissed to me. I raised my eyebrows, shrugging. As everyone else in my usual group joined us I saw Scott and Stiles looking at me confused. I shrugged at them, also confused.

"Get up," Jackson said to Phil.

"How come you never ask Danny to get up?" Phil asked him.

"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot," Danny replied and I swatted him, causing him to grin. "So I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack. Probably a cougar," He added.

"I heard mountain lion," Jackson said.

"A cougar is a mountain lion, isn't it?" Lydia joined in.

"Who cares? The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway," Jackson said. I frowned at him.

"Actually I found out who it is. Check it out," Stiles spoke up. I leaned over to look at his phone.

"The sheriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did surivive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition," The reporter said on the video.

"I know this guy," Scott said.

"You do?" Both Allison and I asked.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus back when I lived with my Dad, he was the driver," Scott explained.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun please?" Allison asked. "Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night? You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?" She continued. I shook my head at her.

"Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do," Allison replied.

"Well, I am not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos so if the four of us are hanging out, were doing something fun," She thought for a moment. "Elles, you joining us?" She asked.

"Oh hell no, if you're turning this into dare night, I'm not coming as the only single," I replied.

"Bring a date then, Harry, maybe?" She said. I met her gaze and then looked at Allison who had a pleading look on her face.

"Fine, I'll ask him," I said.

"You alright with that?" I heard Scott ask Allison.

"Yeah, I guess. Sounds fun," Allison replied with a smile to me.

"You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork," Jackson said.

"Behave," I said to him and he just smirked at me.

"How 'bout bowling? You and Ellie love to bowl," Lydia suggested.

"Yeah, with actual competition," Jackson retorted.

"How do you know we're not actual competition? You can bowl right?" Allison asked.

"Sort of," Scott replied.

"Is it sort of, or yes?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, in fact, I'm a great bowler," Scott replied. I caught Stiles' face and held in a laugh. I saw Harry across the cafeteria and caught his gaze, beckoning him over.

"Hey Elles," He said, kissing my cheek.

"Hey Harry...erm you free tomorrow night?" I asked him.

"Yeah, why?" He asked with a smile.

"Well, these four are having date night and I've been invited..." I trailed off.

"Except your single and need a date," He guessed with a wink. "I'll be there. Pick you up at seven," He added, kissing my cheek again and walking off.

"And you do that how?" Allison asked me, I shrugged with a laugh.

"You're a terrible person...and a terrible bowler," I said to Scott as we walked through the hallways of school.

"I know! I'm such an idiot," Scott replied.

"God, it was like watching a car wreck. I mean, first it turned into the whole group date thing. And then out of nowhere comes that phrase," Stiles added.

"Hang out," Scott corrected him.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, okay? It's like death. Once it's hanging out, you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out," Stiles replied.

"How is this happening? I either killed a guy or I didn't," Scott said.

"I don't think Danny likes me very much," Stiles mused.

"I ask Allison on a date and now we're hanging out," Scott continued. I looked between them.

"Am I not attractive to gay guys?" Stiles suddenly questioned. I sent him a look.

"I make first line and the team captain warns to destroy me, and now- now we're gonna be late for work," Scott finished to me. I looked at my phone and sighed, grabbing Scott's hand and pulling him out to run to the animal clinic.

We arrived there ten minutes later and ran into the clinic.

"Sorry we're late," I apologised.

"You're all of two minutes late," Deaton, the veterinarian replied as he looked through notes.

"We just don't want you to think we're slacking," Scott said.

"Scott, Ellie, I guarantee you, you're both two of the least slacking kids in this town," Deaton said. I smiled. "Hey, I see somebody's ready to get their stitches out," He added as my Dad came in to the room.

"Hey there, Scott, You keeping out of trouble?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," Scott said with a look to me.

"Hey Dad," I said, kissing his cheek as I washed my hands in the basin.

"Hey, listen, while I'm here, you mind taking a look at those pictures I was telling you about? Sacramento still can't determine an animal," Dad said quietly to Deaton. I'm not exactly an expert. This is the guy who was attacked in the bus?" Deaton replied.

"Yeah and we found wolf hairs on Laura Hale's body," Dad added.

"A wolf?" I questioned.

"I mean, I think I read somewhere that wolves haven't been in California for, like, sixty years," Scott added.

"True enough, but wolves are highly migratory. They could have wandered in from another state driven by impulse or strong enough memory," Deaton said.

"Wolves have memories?" Scott asked, sharing a look with me.

"Longer-term memories, yes. Associated with a primal drive. See this one here?" He pointed to a gash on the side of the guy's cheek in the photo. "Those are claw marks. A wolf would have gone for the throat or the spinal cord with it's teeth," He said to Dad.

"So what do you think, it's a mountain lion?" Dad asked in reply.

"I don't know," Deaton said. "A wolf could chase down it's prey, hobbling it by tearing at the ankles, then the throat," I pulled away from the table, felling a cold shoved run through me. My bad felling from the night of the first game had returned.

As I was making my way home, I got a call from Scott.

"Scott, what's up?" I asked as I answered.

"Will you come with me to see Derek?" He asked, sounding slightly scared.

"Course I will," I replied. I heard his breath of relief. "I'll meet you by the start of boundary to the woods," I added.

"Okay, see you in a while, Ellie," He said and hung up.

I stood by the sign of the reserve and waited for Scott to appear. He did so moments later and looked so shaken up I hugged him immediately.

"What happened?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Let's walk and talk," He said and I nodded in agreement.

As we walked, he told me about the pull of going to see Mr Meyers and how Mr Meyers had panicked upon seeing his face. We approached the edge of the clearing at the front of Derek's house and saw the police car drive off swiftly.

"God, it's eery here," I murmured, pulling my jacket closer around my body.

"I know you can hear me. I need your help," Scott said in a normal tone and I looked at the house for any signs of movement. As it began to rain we walked up to the porch which had shelter. The front door opened, making me jump slightly and Derek appeared, stepping out onto the porch with us.

"Okay. I know I was part of you getting arrested and that we basically announced you being here to the hunters. I also don't know what happened to your sister. But I think I did something last night. I had a dream," Scott paused. "About someone. But someone else got hurt. And it turns out part of the dream might have actually happened," He finished.

"You think you attacked the driver?" Derek asked.

"Did you see what I did last night?" Scott countered.

"No," Derek answered shortly. I shivered from the cold slightly.

"Can you at least tell me the truth? Am I gonna hurt someone?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Again with the short answer. But this time, Derek's eyes slid to me and then back to Scott again. Was he implying that I could be Scott's victim?

"Could I kill someone?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Another look to me. I felt a cold shiver run down my back slightly.

"Am I gonna kill someone?" Scott asked quietly. I took his arm and squeezed the top half comfortingly.

"Probably. Look, I can show you how to remember. I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon. But it's not gonna come for free," Derek said. I frowned.

"What do you want?" Scott asked, sounding resigned.

"You'll find out," Derek said. "But for now, I'm gonna give you what you want. Go back put the bus. Go inside. See it, feel it. Let your senses- your sight, smell, touch- let them remember for you," He instructed.

"That's it? Just- just go back?" Scott asked.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Derek questioned.

"I just want to know if I hurt him," Scott answered.

"No, you don't," Derek contradicted. "You want to know if you'll hurt her, or them," He added. We went to back away and then Derek stopped me with a hand on my wrist. "Let me give you a lift. Scott's got his bike, you're walking," He said to me. I looked at Scott, who looked uncertain but then I nodded.

"Thank you," I said softly. Derek nodded. I hugged Scott. "I'll see you later," I told him.

"Text me when you get home," He said with a glance towards Derek before walking off. Derek and I headed to the back of the house, where his black, sleek Camaro was parked. He opened the door for me and I slid in. The door shut and then Derek was in and dor ing out of the woods and towards town.

"I'm sorry. For my part in getting you arrested," I said quietly after a few minutes silence. Derek didn't reply. "I'm also sorry for your sister," I added and this time he did look at me briefly, an unrecognisable expression on his face.

"Do you trust Scott won't harm you or your brother?" Derek asked. I thought for a moment, then I gave a slight shrug.

"I don't know. I really don't," I finally said as I realised we were close to my home. Derek pulled up outside it. "But I trust that you'll be able to help him," I said finally. Derek gazed at me for a moment. "Thanks, again, for the lift," I added and with a small smile, went to get out of the car. Derek's hand on my mine for a second time, made me look around.

"Be careful, Ellie." He said gently and then he let go. I smiled once again and made my way indoors, Derek driving off as I closed the door. I leaned against it for a moment. My bad feeling went away when I was with Derek and I had no reason why. I walked into the hallway more.

"Stiles?" I called out.

"Yeah," Stiles replied from his bedroom at the top of the stairs and I nodded to myself.

"Hey just me and Ellie," Scott said as we climbed out of the jeep, which was parked outside school, later that night. "Someone needs to keep watch," He added.

"How come I'm always the guy keeping watch?" Stiles asked.

"Because Ellie's the only girl here, you can leave her by herself," Scott replied.

"Okay, why's it starting to feel like you two are Bat man and woman and I'm Robin? I don't want to be Robin all the time," Stiles said. I rolled my eyes.

"Nobody's Bat man, woman and Robin all of the time," I said sternly.

"Not even some of the time?" Stiles asked. I shook my head as Scott said

"Just stay here,"

"Oh, my god! Fine," Stiles said, pouting slightly. As Scott climbed over the gates of the school grounds, I slid through a gap that I could get through but that Scott couldn't.

"You sure you want to do this?" I asked him softly as we walked closer to the bus. Scott nodded and walked forward. I stayed back slightly and he turned to me. "I'll stay here so you can focus better," I told him and he nodded and walked forward once more. I walked slightly closer to the bus so I wasn't stood in the middle of the openness obviously. Suddenly I heard the horn of the jeep and I looked around the corner of the bus and saw a flashlight ahead of me.

"Crap!" I hissed. I saw Scott motion for me to go from the window of the bus and I began running, knowing he was following me. I reached the jeep and climbed in, Scott following me moments later.

"Did it work? Did you remember?" Stiles as we began to get out of there.

"Yeah, I was there last night. And the blood- a lot of it was mine," Scott said.

"So you did attack him?" Stiles questioned.

"No.i saw glowing eyes in the bus, but they weren't mine. It was Derek," Scott said.

"What?!" I exclaimed, feeling slightly sick.

"What about the driver?" Stiles asked,

"I think I was actually trying to protect him," Scott said.

"WIt, why would Derek help you remember that he attacked the driver?" I asked.

"That's what I don't get," Scott said.

"It's got to be a pack thing," Stiles said.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Like an invitation. You do the kill together," Stiles explained.

"Yeah, because ripping someone's throat out is a real bonding experience?" I replied.

"Yeah but he didn't do it, which means you're not a killer. And it also mean-"

"I can out with Allison," Scott finished Stiles' sentence with a smile.

"I was gonna say it means you won't kill me or Ellie," Stiles said.

"Oh yeah. That too," Scott amended, making me laugh.

The next night I was sat in Allison's room with Lydia as Allison chose something to wear.

"Let me see," Lydia said as she got up and began to sort through the wardrobe. "Pass, pass, pass...uh, pass on all of it," She said. "Allison, respect for your taste is dwindling by the second," She added. I picked out a dress.

"This," I suggested. Allison held it up against her and looked in her mirror. At that moment, her Dad walked in.

"Dad, hello?" She said.

"Right, I'm sorry. I completely forgot to knock," Her Dad said.

"Hi, Mr Argent," Lydia said as she lay back on the bed.

"Dad, do you need something?" Allison asked.

"I wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight," He said. Lydia and I looked at each other,

"What? I'm going out with my friends tonight," She protested.

"Not when some animal is out there attacking people,"

"Dad, dad, I'm uh-"

"It's out of my hands. There's a curfew. No ones allowed out past nine thirty pm. No more arguing," Her Dad said, leaving the room. Lydia stood up.

"Someone's daddy's little girl," She mused. I swatted her. "No offence but you are too, Ellie," She added.

"Not tonight," Allison said.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as she stepped out of her window and then did a backflip down into her garden.

"Eight years gymnastics. Are you coming?" Allison replied. Lydia and I smiled at each other.

"We'll take the stairs," Lydia decided.

We reached the bowling alley and met with the guys. I hugged Harry, his arms coming around me gently as he kissed my cheek.

"Come on, you two," Allison called and I saw her smirk. We walked in and got sorted.

"So, could we call this our first date?" Harry asked. I smiled.

"Well...maybe," I said as I got up to take my go. Harry came to stand behind me and he took my hand that was holding the bowling ball and helped me aim it. "Oh, is that what we're doing?" I asked him.

"Definitely," He said. I smiled. We threw the bowl and it went straight to a strike.

"Who!" Lydia and Allison cried as I returned to my seat as Harry took his go.

After what was a great, but very tiring night, I found myself at home to a pacing Stiles.

"What's happened?" I asked him.

"We need to go to Scott's. Now," He said and I nodded heading back out through the front door.

My god, can we please just have a quiet night of no drama?" I muttered as we drove off.

As we got to Scott's we chose, or rather Stiles chose to climb onto his balcony, meaning I had to also, climb onto his balcony; with the assistance of Scott. We walked into his room and I sat on his bed.

"Hey Scott, I'm gonna go to-" Melissa broke off as she saw me and Stiles in his room."Seriouslt, you two, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked, frowning.

"I dunno, I've been dragged here," I replied. I looked at Stiles who was silent. Melissa sighed.

"Guys, please use the front door next time," She said.

"But we lock the front door. They would be able to get in," Scott replied.

"Yeah exactly," Melissa said and I looked at her with raised eyebrows. "And by the way, do any of you care that there's a police- enforced curfew?" She asked.

"No," We all replied simultaneously. Melissa sighed.

"No. All right then. Well, you know what? That's about enough parenting for me for one night. So good night," She said, leaving the bedroom and us to it.

"What?" Scott asked us.

"Dad left for the hospital fifteen minutes ago. It's the bus driver. They said he succumbed to his wounds," Stiles said. I looked at him shocked.

"Succumbed?" Scott questioned.

"Scott he's dead," I explained softly. Scott met my expression with an unreadable one. "I'm going to uh, head home," I added. Scott and Stiles looked at each other.

"I think I'm going to kip here tonight, if that's okay," Stiles said to Scott who nodded. I nodded too and hugged the pair of them, then climbed down from the balcony and got into the jeep. I drove off and at the crossroads, making my decision. I needed answers and now.

I opened the door of the Hale house.

"Derek! I know you're here! I know what you did!" I shouted as I met the empty hallway of the house.

"I didn't do anything," His voice sounded around me.

"You killed him!" I shouted back, as I stepped up the stairs.

"He died," The voice sounded again.

"Like your sister died?" I questioned.

"My sister was missing. I came here looking for her," He replied.

"You found her," I stated.

"I found her in pieces, being used as hair to catch me," His tone was angry.

"I think you killed them both. I'm gonna tell everyone, starting with my Dad, the Sheriff," I stated, anger filling me. I had begun to trust him. I believe his intentions were real. And now I believed it was all a lie. I reached the landing of the stairs and then I felt a prescence behind me. Derek went to grab me but suddenly my hand struck out and he went flying through a wall. I stared in disbelief at my hand and then at Derek lying on the floor of the house.

"That was cute," I heard him murmur. Suddenly I saw his face change in his wolf form and I felt fear run through me. As he stalked me and came close enough to me, I went to slap him but he only grabbed my hand and twisted me into his arms, holding me against his body. I felt my fear spike until I felt him turn me around and walk me backwards into a wall, his face changing back to Derek.

"I didn't kill him. Neither did Scott. It's not my fault and it's not his either," He said slowly.

"This? This is all your fault! You ruined his life!" I exclaimed.

"No I didn't," He said.

"You're the one who bit him," I said.

"No I'm not," At this, I tensed.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm not the one that bit Scott," He stated. I felt a realisation go through me.

"There's another," I stated softly.

"It's called an Alpha. It's the most dangerous of my kind. Scott and I, are betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal than than him or I. My sister came here looking for him. Now I'm trying to find him. But I don't think I can do it without Scott. Or you," He explained.

"Why Scott or me?" I asked.

"Because he's the one that bit Scott. Scott's a part of his pack. It's Scott that he wants," Derek said, then paused. "And you, you're a Druid, Eleonora." He said.

"What?" I whispered.


	4. Chapter 4: Magic Bullet

"A Druid," Derek repeated himself.

"I heard you...but what is it? Because I shouldn't have been able to throw you through the air like that but I did," I replied. Derek released me, stepping back slightly.

"You're nature's balance for the supernatural in the world...you're a witch, of sorts," He explained.

"I can't be though, I've never shown any signs of having magic powers," I said.

"Being around supernatural creatures triggers it." Derek paused. "Scott and I have triggered it. Otherwise you wouldn't have known it at all," He added. I felt myself begin to cry and shake slightly. He sighed and came to hug me gently. I pulled him in tighter and felt his grip around me as I hit my face in his shoulder.

"What do I do?" I asked him.

"I'll help you. Though I don't know much, I can help you a bit.." He said. I nodded. "Come on, let's get you home," He added. I nodded and again and let him lead me to my jeep. He then opened the passenger door, helped me in and got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"You really don't have to drive me home," I told him, wiping my face.

"Ellie, there's an Alpha out there." Was his only reply. As we pulled up outside my home, I saw that Dad wasn't back yet. We both gout out and Derek handed me my keys.

"Thank you," I said softly and kissed his cheek. "You need to tell Scott everything. Explain to him,' I added.

"Are you going to tell him and Stiles about...?" He trailed off as I shook my head.

"Not for the moment in time," I said. "When I come to terms with it myself and I'm dealing with it, then I will tell. At the moment, it's our secret," I finished. He nodded.

"Goodnight, Ellie," He said and then began to walk off. I watched him go before heading inside my home.

The next morning I woke early; lying in bad for a long while,just thinking of things. Mainly how my life had now completely changed. I was a Druid. And by my research, this meant that I could control the elemental powers, be in tune with nature, animals and also create potions. I had turned into a witch from Hogwart's. I got up and went to open my curtains when I caught sight of the white paper on my window sill. A note. I picked it up, opening it.

"Come to the house today after school, D." I read softly. I sighed and turned it into a ball, throwing it into the trashcan by my door.

"If Derek isn't the Alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?" Stiles asked Scott. Turns out Scott had visited Derek, like I had, and him and Derek had had a fight before Derek had the chance to tel him about the Alpha.

"I don't know," Scott replied.

"Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?" Stiles then asked.

"I don't know," Scott said again.

"Does Allison's Dad know about the Alpha?" Stiles asked again.

"I don't know!" Scott exclaimed as I also exclaimed

"Stiles, just stop!" Both of them looked at me curiously.

"You okay, sis?" Stiles asked softly.

"I'm fine," I replied. "Sorry, just tired," I added. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Scott and Stiles had shared a look between them.

"You sure?' Scott asked.

"Yes," I answered as the teacher handed me my test paper back. An A. I smiled then I heard Scott say "jeez," under his breath.

"Dude, you need to study more." I heard Stiles say. "That was a joke," He added. "Scott, its one test. You're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"

"No. I'm studying with Allison after school today," Scott replied.

"That's my boy," Stiles said.

"Were just studying," Scott replied defensively.

"Uh, no, you're not," Stiles said. I sighed in annoyance.

"No, I'm not?"

"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you. If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to god I'll have you de-balled," Stiles threaten.

"And if you don't stop thinking about girls as sex objects, I'll have you de balled, Stiles," I hissed as I got up, everything in my arms. "God, some things are actually serious around here," I added as I stalked to the front to get a sick note from the teacher. I saw the glances that were carried around the room after I left it. I walked down the hallway, stopping at my locker and grabbing my bag and dropping off my other stuff before I shut the locker door and then leaned against it, tilting my head back slightly. I watched as the lights in the hallway flickered off, then back on and breathed deeply, knowing in was the cause. "Why me?" I murmured softly. I walked out to the jeep and sat in it, waiting for Stiles to finish lesson.

He eventually came out and climbed into the driver's seat of the jeep.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I had a headache," I said. He nodded.

"You sure your okay?" He asked.

"Yeah-oh my god!" I screamed as Derek Hale appeared in front of the jeep, causing Stiles to nearly hit him. He then collapsed and I gasped, getting out of the jeep and kneeling beside him. "Derek?" I asked, helping him to sit up. I saw Scott and a Stiles joining me.

"What are you doing here?" Scott asked him.

"I was shot," He replied.

"He's not looking so good, dude," Stiles commented. I shot him an irritated look.

"Why aren't you healing?" I asked him.

"I can't. It was- it was a different kind of bullet," He explained, sounding in pain. I felt a tug in my stomach.

"A silver bullet?" Stiles asked.

"No, you idiot," Derek retorted, making me smile slightly.

"Wait wait. That's what she meant when she said you had forty eight hours," Scott said.

"What?" I asked.

"What said forty eight hours?" Derek asked with me.

"The one who shot you. What are you doing?" Scott said as Derek's eyes began changing. "Stop that!" He commanded.

"I'm trying to tell you, I can't!" Derek said. I put my hand on his shoulders.

"Derek, breathe," I told him calmly, feeling the exact opposite. Derek's eyes went back to normal. "Let's get him into the jeep," I added, ignoring the shocked looks on the three of the faces in front of me.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek told Scott once he and I were in the car.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" He asked.

"'Cause she's an Argent. She's with them,"

"Why should I help you?" Scott asked.

"Scott! Just do it," I commanded. Scott looked at me for a moment.

"Fine. I'll try." He replied, his gaze on me rather than Derek. Stiles got into the drivers seat and we drove off.

"I hate you two for making me do this," Stiles muttered.

"Stiles, just shut up!" I said as I felt Derek's head and felt him changing between freezing cold and burning hot. I helped him out of his leather jacket, throwing it into the back of the jeep.

"Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay?" Stiles said. "Were almost there," He added.

"Your seats?" I questioned, shooting him a raised eyebrow. Then I turned to him again. "Where's there?" I asked.

"His house," Stiles answered.

"What? No, you can't take me there," Derek said immediately.

"I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles asked sceptively.

"Stiles, he can't protect himself. They could know he's there," I said.

"All right," Stiles pulled over. "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmmm? Are you dying?" He questioned. I looked at Derek quickly.

"Are you dying?" I asked him worriedly.

"Not yet," He said to me. "I have a last resort," He added.

"What do you mean? What last resort?" Stiles exclaimed. As Derek pulled up his sleep, revealing his wound, Stiles made a disgusted sound. "Oh my god. What is that? Oh, is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out," He rambled.

"Grow up, Stiles," I said to him firmly. "Is there anything I can do?" I asked Derek in an undertone. He shook his head and I sighed.

"Start the car now," He said to Stiles.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead," Stiles retorted,

"Start the car," Derek started. "Or I'm gonna rip your throat out- with my teeth," He finished, making Stiles very scared and me amused and wearing a smirk. Stiles nodded to himselfand began to drive once more.

"What are we meant to do with him, Ellie?" Stiles asked me after a few moments.

"We take him somewhere and help him," I replied, as Derek's eyes open and closed in what looked like a fever.

"He's starting to smell," Stiles commented. "Like death," He added with a disgusted expression.

"Stiles, just stop. He's seriously injured and could die on us at any moment," I said with a tired tone in my voice.

"Why are you so defensive of him?" Stiles asked me after a moment. I didn't reply. "Come on,Ellie, tell me why you're willing to help him," He said.

"Because he's going to help Scott, isn't he?" I replied hesitantly. Stiles shook his head.

"No, it's more than that," He said. "What's he got on you, eh?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm doing it for Scott," I said, then I spoke up again. "We can take him to the animal clinic,"

"What about your boss?" Stiles asked.

"He's gone by now. And I have my keys with me," I said as I began to text Scott.

"Did he find it?" Derek asked quietly from beside me.

"He said they have around a million," I summarised from the text message.

"Look, if he doesn't find it, then I'm dead, all right?" He said. I met his gaze. I then handed him my phone and he began to type out a message to Scott. He passed me my phone back as we reached the animal clinic and helped him indoors. I got a text from Scott and paused as Stiles got Derek into the consulting room. I walked in.

"Does Northern Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?" I asked Derek.

"It's a rare firm of wolfsbane. He has to bring me the bullet," Derek replied. I nodded and texted Scott back.

"Why?" Stiles asked.

"Cause I'm gonna die without it," Derek told him. I flinched slightly at his words. I put my phone down on the side and went to look at Derek's arm, taking it in my hands softly and pressing a gauze paid onto it to stem the bleeding.

"Okay. You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night of sleep couldn't take care of," Stiles said.

"Stiles," I said warningly.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me," Derek said as he began to tie elastic around his bicep, cutting off the blood circulation. I helped him tie it, feeling his gaze on me.

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" Stiles retorted.

"If he doesn't get here in time with the bullet- last resort," Derek said, grabbing a saw from the side.

"Which is?" I asked, fearful of the answer.

"Stiles is gonna have to cut my arm off," Derek stated. I saw Stiles' jaw drop and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh my god..." stiles murmured.

"What if you bleed to death?" I asked Derek.

"It'll heal if it works," He told me.

"Ugh. Look- I don't know I can do this," Stiles said. "Ellie?" He said to me.

"She's not doing it. I'm not making her do that," Derek growled in response. "Why can't you?"

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bible, and especially the blood," Stiles replied.

"You faint at the sight of blood?" Derek asked incredulously.

"No but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!" Stiles exclaimed.

"All right. Fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm or I'm gonna cut off your head," Derek growled.

"Okay you know what, I'm so not buying-" Derek grabbed him. "Okay all right, bought sold. Totally. I'll do it I'll do it," Suddenly Derek leant over and vomited black liquid. "Hold god, what is that?"

"It's my body- trying to heal itself," Derek explained as I rubbed his back.

"Well it's not doing a very good job of it," Stiles quipped.

"Now. You gotta do it now," Derek said to Stiles, then he turned to me. "Stand in the corridor," I shook my head. "Please," He added. I did so and covered my face with my hands. I suddenly felt hands on my shoulder and saw Scott standing there. I hugged him tightly.

"Stiles!" Scott shouted. "What the hell are you doing?" He added as he saw the scene.

"Oh you prevented a lifetime of nightmares," Stiles murmured.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Scott asked.

"I'm gonna-" Derek stopped as he fell to the floor unconscious.

"No! Derek!" I said as I knelt beside him. As Stiles and Scott tried to get the bullet back. As I got the bullet I looked at them desperately. "Please don't kill me for this," I whispered as I meant down and kissed his lips, blowing air into his body. Derek gasped and opened his eyes, his lips connecting to mine for a second before I pulled away. I blushed a deep red as he got up and emptied the bullet of it's powder, set it on fire and then pushed the ashes into his wound. He then gasped, fell to the floor once more in pain as the wound healed completely.

"That- was- awesome!" Stiles yelled from beside me.

"Are you okay?" I asked Derek softly.

"Yes...apart from the agonising pain, I'm fine," He said. "Thanks," He added. I smiled softly.

"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad and I'm gonna tell him everything-"

"You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek cut over Scott.

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are," Scott responded.

"Maybe that was because you got him arrested and wrongly accused," I muttered.

"Why are you siding with him?" Stiles asked me, looking confused.

"I can show you exactly how nice they are," Derek said, not giving me a chance to answer Stiles' question.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked. Derek just walked out of the room, muttering come on under his breath to us.

"We seriously gonna follow him?" Stiles asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Okay what is up with you?" Scott asked. I just ignored him and followed Derek.

We were stood at the bedside of a strange man.

"Who is he, Derek?" I asked.

"My uncle, Peter Hale," Derek replied.

"Is he- like you, a werewolf?" Scott asked.

"He was, now he's barely even human." Derek paused. "Six years ago, my sister and I were at school, and our house caught fire. Eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor," He said. I stared at him, seeing his upset though he barely showed it.

"So- what makes you so sure that they set the fire?" Scott asked.

"Cause they're the only ones that knew about us," Derek said.

"Well. Then- they had a reason," Scott tired to reason,

"What reason?" I asked softly. "What justifies the fact that they had to kill eleven people, Scott? They took away lives! Not all of those lives couldn't not be innocent!" I finished. Scott looked at me shocked.

"There were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire," Derek stated. "This is what they do. And it's what Allison will do," He added.

"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" A nurse asked, looking confused from the doorway.

"We were just leaving," Derek said, grabbing my wrist loosely and leading us from the room. I felt numb inside.


	5. Chapter 5: The Tell

I was sat in my bedroom with Derek stood by my window. He had just climbed through it moments before.

"So, any signs of your power recently?" He asked. I nodded.

"Just lights flickering, the wind picking up around us, temperature dropping," I listed in reply.

"And these were when?" He asked.

"If I was angry, irritated...it's emotion based definitely," I said. Derek nodded.

"Then you need an anchor to make sure you don't expose your powers," He explained.

"How do I do that?" I asked, feeling confused.

"Focus on something that calms you. A person, place, memory," He replied. I thought for a moment about something, then I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt the temperature drop around me. "You doing this?" Derek asked. I nodded, not opening my eyes. I carried on until I felt myself weakening and then I let go of the power, but it didn't stop. In fact, it got colder. "Ellie, your nose is bleeding," Derek stated and I felt him closer to me. I could feel the wetness on my face. "Ellie! Stop! Stop now!" He demanded.

"I can't?" I panicked. Suddenly I felt his hands on either side of my neck and I concentrated on Derek. His voice, his breathing, his scent and suddenly my powers stopped and I could open my eyes again.

"You found your anchor," He stopped. I nodded. "What is it? If you don't..." He trailed off awkwardly.

"Just my family," I replied casually, not daring to admit it was actually him. Derek was my anchor. Suddenly I got a text, as did Derek.

"There's been a murder," We both said at the same time, looking awkwardly at each other.

"Come on, I'm meeting Stiles there," I said and we both headed out where the murder had been.

"Stiles?" I asked as I walked to where Dad's car was. Stiles grinned as he hugged me. I saw Jackson and Lydia there as well and frowned to Stiles. "What are they doing here?" I asked him.

"Oh, they were the ones who found the body," Stiles answered. I raised my eyebrows and then I looked up to see Scott and Derek on the roof, looking down. Scott was looking at Derek, but Derek met my gaze and I smiled to him softly before looking back to the ambulance.

"She is going to love it!" Lydia squealed the next morning as we decorated Allison's locker for her birthday. I grinned.

"Yeah, she is," I agreed and hi fived Lydia.

"Come on," Lydia said, dragging me back to our own lockers and completely acting normal in case Allison showed up. "So, are you dating Harry now, or what?" She asked. I sighed.

"Erm...no. Not exactly. He's lovely and great and-"

"You don't like him like that because you like someone else," Lydia stated with a grin.

"Bullseye," I said.

"Who's the someone else?" She asked. I just shook my head.

"No, not worth telling you, Lyds," I answered.

"He's older, isn't he?" She guessed as we walked down the hallway. I shot her a look. "Oh my god. He's a lot older. He's not even in school!" She gasped.

"How do you get all of this right?" I asked her, shocked. She just tapped her nose and walked off in front of me, making me gaze after her. She suddenly stopped and I nearly walked straight into her. "Lydia?" I asked her, hands on her arms. She looked scared and then she began shaking slightly. "Lyds...what's the matter?" I asked her and she just walked off with an apologising look towards me. I looked around to see Scott and Allison going back through the main entrance of the school and I looked after them, confused. "What the hell?" I asked, looking around for Stiles and not finding him anywhere. I shook my head and decided not to go to Chemistry either. I had more pressing matters to sort out right now, one of them being why the hell I was magically a Druid and Stiles wasn't. I walked outside and sat down on a bench on the far side,under a circle of trees and began to scroll through the internet to look for any information on the mythology of Druids.

I'd spent around an hour or two there, looking up occasionally. I was in the mid of a scout around for teachers when I saw Derek walking into one of the back doors of the school, that lead directly to the locker rooms. I looked around and got up, following him. I walked into the back of the locker room and saw that it was mostly empty in there.

"I- I don't know here Scott is," I heard Jackson say around the corner of some lockers. I paused.

"I'm not here for Scott. I'm here for you," Derek replied to him. I frowned in confusion, why was Derek here for Jackson?

"Wh-wh-why me? I- I didn't do anything," Jackson sounded terrified, something I'd never heard him sound before.

"No, but you saw something, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't- I didn't see anything," Jackson replied immediately.

"What was it,hmmm? An animal? A mountain lion?" Derek said, sounding not like the Derek I'd been spending nights with.

"I didn't see anything. I swear. I'm- I'm not lying," Jackson said. I leant against the lockers more.

"Then calm down and say it again," Derek sounded almost dangerous.

"Say what? That I'm not lying?" Jackson asked. I thought for a moment if Derek knew I was there. If he could smell my scent or hear my heartbeat,

"Tell me that you didn't see anything. Slowly," Derek said firmly.

"I didn't- see anything. I'm not lying," Jackson said slowly.

"One more thing, you should really get that checked out." Derek said. I frowned again in confusion. I heard Derek walking away and saw his shadow go through the doorway. I breathed out slowly and also slipped out of the locker room, leaving Jackson to it. I looked around for Derek and didn't see him anywhere. I sighed deeply. What the hell was going on today? I made my way back out to my bench and cursed as I heard my phone ringing. Stiles.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"Where are you? Along with Lydia? Scott? Allison?" He demanded.

"Lydia ran off before Chemistry this morning, I have no idea where the other two are and I'm cutting class." I replied.

"You're cutting class? You never cut class," Stiles answered.

"Well, maybe it's time for a change!" I snapped. Then I sighed at the silence on the other end of the phone. "Sorry off snapping. I'm just stressed. Tired," I said.

"It's okay...are you on school grounds still?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Fancy a trip to Lydia's with me?" He asked. I thought for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah...why not? I'll uh, meet you at the jeep," I replied and hung up on him.

As soon as I saw Stiles by the jeep, I hugged him tightly. Just wanting to.

"Whoah...you're really not okay, are you?" He said. I smiled softly.

"I'm fine. Just wanting a hug from my older brother," I replied, pulling away and getting into the jeep, Stiles doing the same.

"Okay, what's up, really?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"I don't know what you mean," I replied.

"Elles, come on. Before I begin to think I have to speak to Dad," Stiles said.

"That's blackmail," I accused. He just shrugged. "I...uh...I'm changing, Stiles. I know it. I'm not just little co Captain cheerleader who gets straight a's and is part of the popular clique," I stated.

"And that's a bad thing?" Stiles asked, looking at me strangely.

"It is when it scares me," I replied quietly. There was silence for a few minutes,which then turned into the whole of the car journey to Lydia's.

"Honey, there's a Stiles with Ellie here for you," Lydia's mom said to Lydia from her bedroom doorway.

"What the hell is a 'Stiles'?" Lydia replied drowsily.

"She took a little something to ease her nerves. You can- you can go in," Her mom said to us. We nodded and walked in.

"Thanks," I said to her.

"What are you doing here?" Lydia asked us.

"I was just making sure you were okay," Stiles said.

"After you, you know, ran out on me this morning," I added.

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"Because we were worried about you today." I answered. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I feel- fantastic," She replied.

"Oh...what- I bet you can't say 'I saw Suzy sitting in a shoeshine shop' ten times fast," Stiles spoke up. I raised my eyebrows at him. She patted the bed beside her to Stiles and he sat down nervously.

"I saw Shuzy- I shaw- I shaw." Lydia looked confused. "I saw-" She broke off suddenly, looking scared.

"What? What did you see, Lydia?" I asked her softly, crouching by the bedside.

"Something," She replied softly.

"Something like- like a mountain lion?" I suggested.

"A mountain lion," She said. I shared a look with Stiles.

"Are you sure you saw a mountain lion or are you just saying that because that's what the police told you?" Stiles questioned.

"A mountain lion," Lydia repeated. I had an idea and grabbed the toy giraffe on her bed stand, holding it in front of her.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A mountain lion," Lydia repeated. I shared another look with Stiles.

"Okay, you're so drunk," I muttered. Lydia's head landed in Stiles's lap and he made a face.

"Oh," He muttered. I smirked at him with an amused expression as he looked at me for help.

"Well,we're gonna go. I'll let you get back to the whole post- traumatic stress thing," I said, standing up and helping Stiles up too.

"Mm. stay," Lydia murmured.

"Me- stay? You want me to stay?" Stiles said excitedly, I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yes, please. Stay. Please. Jackson," She said. I tired to cover my laugh but manged to let out a small giggle.

"And- we're done here. You want me to get that?" He asked as her phone went off.

"It's a text," I pointed out as he picked her phone up.

"I don't know how to-" he cut off sharply, peering into the screen of the phone with an intense expression.

"Stiles, what is it?" I asked. He showed me the screen and I froze as I saw the red eyes and huge black figure of the animal on the screen.

"Oh-my god," I whispered. "What the hell is that?" I then asked.

"Hey, it's me again. Look, Ellie and I found something, and we don't know what to do, okay? So if you could turn your phone on right now, that'd be great. Or else I'll kill you understand me? I'm gonna kill you. And I'm too upset to come up with a description about how exactly I'm gonna kill you, but I'm gonna do it, okay? I'm gonna-ugh! Goodbye," Stiles shut his phone off from leaving. The voicemail on Scott's phone and slumped down into his desk chair. "God," He said, covering his face.

"Please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent/teacher thing tonight," Dad said from the doorway, making us both jump.

"Depends on how you define "good news,"," Stiles said.

"I define if as you two getting straight A's with no behavioural issues," Dad replied.

"You might wanna rethink that definition," I said. Dad raised his eyebrows at me.

"'Nuff said," He murmured, turning to go.

"Dad?" I called him back. "If any of my teacher's ask where I was today, I had a migraine, okay?" I said. He narrowed his eyes but made no comment on the fact that I flunked classes all day as he left the room. We waited for a few minutes, continually checking our phones.

"Come on, Scott. Where the hell are you?" Stiles said after a while. I sighed.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this, Stiles," I said, my mind on Derek. My gut feeling was telling me Derek was in trouble somehow. "I'll be back in a bit, Stiles," I said suddenly, getting up and grabbing the jeep keys on Stiles's desk.

"Where are you going?" Stiles asked.

"Following my gut instinct. Stay here!" I replied before running downstairs and out of the house to the jeep, climbing in and driving off hurriedly.

I reached the Hale house and pulled off the side of the track,hiding the jeep as I saw a strange car outside the front of the house.

"Hunters," I whispered. I got out and shut the door quietly, making my way around to the back of the property and making sure I wasn't seen. As I walked into the back door of the property. I heard a clear female voice.

"Nine hundred thousand volts. You never were good with electricity, were you? Or fire. Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," She said with a laugh. "And, well, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try to catch you. Unpleasant and frankly, a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste but quite true." I put a hand over my mouth. "Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your new balls- We didn't kill her." I frowned. "You think I'm lying?" She asked.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Derek said. He knew who this woman was. He'd met her before.

"Tsk, sweetie," She scolded. "Well- why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay? We- didn't- kill- your- sister," She stated. "Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth." I breathed sharply. If Derek was listening to her heartbeat, he would definitely be able to hear mine. "Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion? Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is- The Alpha kill your sister," I began to move back around the outside of the room they were in, back towards the door. "And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, everyone goes home happy. Unless- you don't know who he is either." She paused. "Wow. Guess who just became totally useless?" I stopped in my movements. Was she going to kill Derek? Suddenly I saw his face in front of me and he met my eyes.

"Go," He mouthed and I nodded, running from the house as the woman took fire on him with a gun. I didn't look back as I knew he'd gotten out of there and had run in a different direction to me. I climbed into the jeep and with shaky hands, turned the ignition on and floored it out of the woods and onto the main road. I pulled in to the side, moments later, hands shaking slightly. I was sixteen years old and I could not cope with the world I'd been thrown into. I heard my phone ringing but didn't bother to answer it. I leant my head in my hands and began to let my tears out.


	6. Chapter 6: Heart Monitor

'Dear Diary, Journal...whatever you want to call it.

I don't know why I'm doing this, but since my life recently up ended into a place where I have no control over it or what's happening in it, I decided that a diary or journal could help me sort my thoughts out. So here we are...I'm a Druid. A witch. A person who has magical powers and an affinity for nature and it's surrounding elements. Apparently, someone in my family must have been a Druid too because my powers are inherited. And I have no idea who that could be. My Dad's side or my Mom's side?

Things aren't good with Stiles and Scott right now. Stiles isn't talking to Scott as our Dad got hurt at the teacher/parent conference thing the other night. Apparently Scott was meant to prevent that. It's pathetic really but I know and understand why Stiles' is reacting like he is. We've lost Mom already, he doesn't want to lose Dad too. It's why he is more stricter about Dad's eating regime than I am...I haven't saw Derek since when we both ran out of his home away from the hunters. I know Scott has once when Derek began his training and attacked him in the multiple storey parking lot. An unconventional method but I might just work.'

I paused in my writing as I heard Dad moving around downstairs. I looked at my phone. Nearly 1am, which meant he was out on a call. I sighed and folded my journal together and put it on my bed stand. I turned off my bed stand light and then I sat for a moment in the darkness and quiet before I lay down and willed myself to sleep.

The next morning, Stiles and I were already sat in the classroom when Scott walked in. I smiled at him as he looked over at us, however Stiles made no smile or acknowledgment.

"Really? You're going to ignore him still?" I asked him. He just ignored me too. I sighed in irritation and then I saw the light flicker once above me. As Scott sat behind Stiles, he leaned forwards.

"You still not talking to me?" He asked Stiles. Stiles ignored him too. "Okay, can you at least tell me your Dad's okay? It's just a bruise right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big- you know I feel really bad about it, right?" Still no reply. "Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure his whole thing out, and- that I went to Derek for help?"

"If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him," Stiles replied. "But obviously I'm not talking to you,"

"And I'd say that you're an idiot for not talking to him and also for not trusting Derek since he's the only one who can actually help Scott currently," I hissed. I saw Scott look at me amused whilst Stiles shot me a dirty look. The three of us looked towards the board and then I looked across at Stiles to see him fighting himself for wanting to know what Derek had said. I smirked knowing that at any second, he was going to talk to Scott.

"What did he say?" He asked finally, turning to Scott. I grinned in victory, as did Scott.

"Wh- he wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?" Stiles asked as we left the classroom, an hour later.

"Yeah," Scott said. I frowned.

"All right, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone, and that someone is usually me or Ellie," Stiles answered.

"I know. That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it," Scott said.

"Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know," Scott replied. "I don't think he does either," He added.

"Okay. When are you seeing him next?" I asked him.

"He told me not to talk about it. Just act normal and get through the day," Scott answered. I frowned in confusion.

"When?" I asked again.

"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work," He said finally.

"After work...well, that gives me to the end of the school day then," I said. Both of them looked at me confused.

"To do what?" Scott asked, sharing a look with Stiles.

"To teach you myself," I replied with a smile as I walked off to join Allison and Lydia.

"Hey," I said as I joined them in the cafeteria.

"The what of who?" Lydia asked, her eyes on me as she smiled but her question directed to Allison.

"The beast of Gevaudan." Allison replied. I looked at her confused. "Listen.'A quadrupled wolf- like monster, prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the year seventeen sixty four to seventeen sixty seven. La Bête killed over a hundred people, becoming so infamous that the king Louie the fifteenth sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it,'" She finished reading out of a book. I listened carefully, feeling that strange feeling in my stomach that Derek had told me was a sixth sense of sorts.

"Boring," Lydia chimed.

"'Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan,'" Allison read out once more.

"Still boring,"

"'Cryptozoologists believe it may have a been a subspecies of hoofed predator,"

"Slipping into a coma bored," I sent Lydia a dirty look.

"While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man eating monster," Allison was describing a werewolf. Surely she was.

"Any of this have anything to do with your family?" Lydia asked. I sat up a little straighter in interest.

"This," Allison replied. "It is believed that la Bête was finally trapped and killed by a renown hunter who claimed his wife and children were the first to fall prey to the creature. His name was Argent,"

"Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?" Lydia asked.

"Not just a big wolf. Take a look at this picture," Allison replied, showing the picture to Lydia and I. "What does it look like to you?" She asked. I felt a dick feeling in my stomach, whilst Lydia looked beyond terrified.

"Lydia?" I asked her.

"Lydia," Allison said too.

"It looks- like a big- wolf." She said. "See you in history," She added,walking away and leaving us to it. I watched her go and then looked to Allison.

"I have no idea what that was about," I lied before re focusing on my own book in my hands. I then noticed Scott and Stiles sat on the other side of the room, Scott had a book standing up, hiding his face. I smiled to myself and shook my head.

"I'll be back in a moment," Allison said, getting up and walking away. I nodded and then waited a moment before getting up and going to sit beside Stiles.

"So did you come up with a plan yet?" Scott asked me.

"I think so," I replied. "By the way, the book is totally obvious," I added.

"Does his mean you two don't hate me anymore?" Scott asked.

"I never hated you," I pointed out.

"No. But your crap has infiltrated our life so now we have to do something about it. Plus Ellie and I are definitely a better yoda than Derek,"

"Okay, yeah, you two teach me," Scott agreed.

"Yeah, we'll be your Yoda," I said.

"Yeah, you be my Yoda," Scott replied.

"Your Yoda we will be," Stiles imitated the voice and I rolled my eyes. "I said it backwards," He then said proudly.

"Yeah- I know," Scott said with a bored tone and grinned to me.

"All right you know what? I definitely still hate you," stiles said, standing up and taking the book with him. Suddenly Allison appeared and I got up and moved away quickly.

"See you," I said and half ran out of one door, leaving Scott to dodge Allison with Stiles.

I joined Scott and Stiles on the lacrosse pitch.

"Okay. Now- put this on," Stiles instructed.

"Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" Scott asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I borrowed it," I replied.

"Stole it," Scott accused.

"No...I kindly asked one of the guys if I could borrow it and he said yes if I brought it back...so it's temporarily misappropriated," I said. Scott and Stiles raised their eyebrows.

"When you mean you asked... You mean flirted right?" Stiles said accusingly. I shrugged my shoulder and he rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day," I explained.

"Isn't that coach's phone?" Scott asked, pointing to Stiles' hand.

"That, he did steal," I said.

"Why?"

"All right, well, your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right? When you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry," I paused. "Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate," I finished.

"Like the Incredible Hulk," Scott said.

"Kind of like the Incredible Hulk,yeah," I agreed.

"No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk," He argued. I was about to disagree when Stiles spoke.

"Would you shut up and put the strap on?" He asked Scott as I leant down and grabbed the duct tape from Stiles' bag, taping Scott's hands together behind his back.

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period," He said with a small smile.

"All right. You ready?" Stiles asked, moving away and so did I, coming to stand behind Stiles.

"Remember don't get angry," I warned.

"I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea," Scott muttered. I watched as Stiles began to throw lacrosse ball at him. "Oh man...okay that one- kind of hurt," He added moments later.

"Quiet. Remember- you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, all right? About staying clam," I said.

"Stay calm...staying calm...staying totally calm...there's no balls flying at my face- ahh! Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed.

"You know, Stiles, I think your aim is actually improving," I commented.

"Wonder why," Scott quipped. I threw him a look.

"Don't get angry," Stiles told him.

"I'm not getting angry," Scott retorted. A few moments later. "Stop. Just- can we just hold-" I looked down at the phone as it began bleeping.

"Crap!" I murmured as I saw his heart rate was over 160. I shared a look with Stiles. "Scott, you all right?" I asked worriedly. I looked up to see that he had ripped off his bonds and was still kneeled down on my floor, head down.

"Scott?" Stiles asked, the phone in his hand. I went to step forward, but Stiles held me back slightly. I looked at the screen and saw his heart rate going down. I walked towards him and knelt down, putting my hands on his shoulder blades and rubbing gently. "You started to change," I told him quietly.

"From anger." He replied, equally as quiet. "But it was more than that. Was like, the angrier I got, the stronger I felt," He explained.

"So it is anger, then. Derek's right," I said.

"I can't be around Allison," Scott stated.

"Just because she makes you happy?" I asked confused.

"No, because she makes me weak," He replied. I shared a look with Stiles.

"Alright, you stay away from her for a few days, you can do that," Stiles said.

"But is it a few days, or is it forever?" Scott asked, sitting up more.

"You know, this whole "women make you weak" thing is a little too spartan warrior for me. It's probably just part of the learning process," I said.

"Yeah, but you've seen Derek. I mean, the guy's totally alone. What if I can, like, never be around her again?" Scott asked. I was totally at a loss for words. But I didn't mention that I got a feeling that Derek hadn't been alone all the while.

I had left Scott and Stiles and was no sitting in the hallway by my locker, reading through stuff for the history project. I turned a page.

"What are you reading?" I heard Jackson's voice say from close to me. I looked up and saw him there, making me jump slightly.

"Oh hey. Just stuff for the history project...you have a free period or..." I replied.

"No I- I just don't like sitting through Chem," He replied, sitting down beside me.

"Understandable," I replied with a smile, causing him to smile too. "Did- did you want something?" I asked.

"Actually um, yeah. I wanted to talk," He said. I looked at him a little surprised. Jackson and I rarely had ever conversed. "I realise that I've been a jerk to you. And especially to Scott. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry," I widened my eyes. "I'm serious," He added. I let the smile onto my face.

"Okay. I- I believe you're being serious. But I'm not sure I believe you're being sincere," I got my words out slowly, putting my book down beside me. I heard Jackson breathe beside me.

"Do you know what it's like to be the best player on the team? To be the star? To have every single person at the game chanting your name? And then- some kid- some kid just comes along and then everyone starts looking at him instead of you. Do you know what that feels like?" He asked.

"Actually yes, I do." I replied, meeting his gaze squarely. It was his turn to look surprised. "Riley only joined the school last year and before that, who was cheer captain to be. Me...I worked for that place so hard and now I'm co- Captain yet I do all the work and she gets all the credit for it. So yeah, I do, Jackson. I get being second best, I totally get it." I explained.

"It feels like something's been stolen from you. And then you start to feel like you'd do- anything. Anything in the world to get it back," He said.

"Haven't you ever learned there's no I in team?" I teased.

"Yeah, but there is a me," He joked. I just looked at him. "That was a joke, gosh. You must really, really hate me," He said.

"Not at all," I replied.

"You sure?" He asked, rubbing his neck. "Because- I'm not a bad guy. I mean, yeah, I make stupid mistakes. A lot but- I'm not bad. I really like you. And Scott and Stiles. I really- really like you. And I want you guys to like me. I want to get to know you guys better. So- what are you reading?" He asked. I looked down at the book in my hand. Witches through history. I showed him and he laughed.

"Don't laugh," I said with a grin on my face.

"Don't tell me you believe they exist?" He asked. I shrugged. "Ellie Stilinski!"

"Jackson Whittemore!" I whined back as he took my book out of my hand and began to read it out to me.

"...Quicker.." I heard Coach say as Jackson and I got to the doorway of Economics. "Mr Whittemore, Miss Stilinski...are you joining us?" He asked, causing pretty much everyone to look at us. Jackson motioned for me to go first and I took a spare seat with him taking the seat behind me.

"Let's settle down...let's start with a summary of last night's reading." Coach looked around. "Greenberg, put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. How about uh, McCall," He said. I turned to look at Scott.

"What?" Scott asked.

"The reading," Coach replied.

"Last night's reading?" Scott asked. I rolled my eyes as I saw Allison sat behind him. Clearly the whole...staying away from her...thing hadn't worked.

"How about, uh, the reading of the Gettysburg Address?" Coach said sarcastically.

"What?" Scott asked confused. I sighed.

"That's sarcasm. You familiar with the term "sarcasm" McCall?" Coach asked.

"Very," Scott replied dryly. I heard Jackson chuckle and I smiled too.

"Did you do the reading or not?" Coach asked.

"Uh, I think I forgot," Scott answered.

"Nice work, McCall. It's not like you're not averaging a 'D' in this class. Come on, buddy. You know I can't keep you on the team if you have a 'D'. How about you summarise, uh, the previous night's reading? No? How about the, uh, the night before that? How about you summarise anything you've ever read- in your entire life?" Coach ranted. I held a bated breath and met Stiles' gaze. If Scott got angry...

"I- I uh-"

"No? A blog? How about, uh, how about, the back of a cereal box? No? How about the adults only warning from your favourite website you visit every night? Anything?" he paused. "Thank you, McCall, thank you. Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice you can start with suicide runs. Unless that's too much reading. All right. Everybody else, settle down," I turned to Jackson with wide eyes and he just shrugged at me. Coach was clearly on something to have a rant like that.

"It's her," Stiles said as he, Scott and walked left Econ.

"No lost," I said after a moment's silence.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked him.

"It's Allison. Remember what you told us about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right? About protecting her," Stiles explained to us, I thought about it for a few more moments.

"Okay," Scott said.

"Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field." Stiles added.

"Yeah I did," Scott agreed.

"Well, so that's what brought you back so you could score. And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her. At least not like how you were trying to kill me and Ellie. She brings you back, is what I'm saying," Stiles said,

"No, no, no, no," Scott protested. "But it's not always true. Because literally every time I'm kissing her or- or touching her-"

"No, that's not the same." I said. "When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?" I paused. "You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah sorry," He apologised, blushing slightly.

"That's fine." I said.

"Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand, that was different, okay? I don't think she makes you weak. I- I think she actually gives you control," Stiles said.

"She's your anchor," I mused, then I saw the looks they were giving me.

"You mean because I love her," Scott said. I looked at him shocked, then looked at Stiles, who was also shocked, then back to Scott.

"Exactly," I said grinning.

"Did I just say that?" He asked, sounding bemused.

"Yes, you just said that," Stiles said.

"I love her," Scott stated with a small grin on his face.

"That's great. Now moving on-" stiles was cut off.

"No, no, no, really. I think I'm totally in love with her," Scott told us.

"And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time," Stiles said.

"Yeah, yeah yeah. Sorry. So what do I do?" Scott asked us.

"I don't know. Yet," Stiles said. I looked at him.

"Oh no. You're getting an idea, aren't you? I said to him.

"Yeah," Stiles replied.

"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble again?" I asked him wearily.

"Maybe," He said.

"Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, definitely. Come on," Stiles replied. He began to walk off, Scott following him.

"Ellie!" I heard Jackson call me. I grabbed Scott's arm.

"I'll catch you up," I told him and then waited for Jackson to catch me up.

"Where's them two off to?" He asked, nodding down the hallway to Stiles and Scott.

"I have no idea." I replied with a sigh. "So?" I asked him. He looked confused for a moment, then grinned.

"So, erm...I'm failing Chem...would you mind helping me?" He asked. I smiled.

"Of course not," I replied.

"Okay...erm...my house. Eight thirty?" He asked. I nodded. "Cool, see you later then," He said, kissing my cheek and walking off. I felt myself blush slightly. Oh crap.

I found out that Scott and Stiles had actually earned detention for their idea and now I was going to work alone, left with coming up with an excuse for Deaton, mine and Scott's employer.

I walked in and said hello to Deaton, before going to the back room and getting out of my coat and hanging it up whilst sorting through my bag. I heard voices and thought Scott had somehow gotten out of detention when I recognised Derek's voice.

"What did you tell them?" He questioned Deaton.

"I told them no," Deaton replied.

"Did you hear that?" Derek asked. I held my breath, frozen.

"Hear what?" Deaton asked.

"The sound of your heartbeat rising," Derek said.

"Excuse me?" Deaton asked, incredulous.

"It's the sound of you lying," Derek said calmly.

"Oh, god," Deaton sounded scared and to be honest, so was I. Derek wouldn't kill Deaton would he? Because I would totally be in the shit then.

"Are you protecting someone?" Derek asked.

"All right, the key to the drug locker is in my pocket," Deaton answered. I looked at the drug locker across the wall from me.

"I don't want drugs. I want to know why you're lying," Derek said. I went to move but knew that my heels would make a sound on the ground. I leant down carefully and pulled my heels off.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What are you doing to me?" Deaton asked. I stopped moving. "What do you want?!" Deaton sounded terrified.

"I want to know who you are or who you're protecting," Derek snarled. Suddenly I saw Scott coming through the door.

"What are you doing?" He asked me loudly. I shook my head.

"Scott, Ellie...get out of here!" Deaton yelled. Scott grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. As Derek began punching Deaton, I gasped.

"Stop stop!" Scott yelled, runnig into the consulting room to Derek. I moved slightly closer to the doorway.

"Look, when he's conscious, he can keep himself from healing, but unconscious, he can't," Derek said angrily. I rubbed my arms, terrified I was about to get in the middle of a wolf fight.

"Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?" Scott demanded.

"You want to know what the spiral means, Scott? It's our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied," Derek explained.

"You think he's the Alpha?" I asked quietly. Scott looked at me worriedly, knowing I was still terrified.

"We're about to find out," Derek told me, going to punch Deaton again.

"Hit him again, and then you'll see me get angry," I stated calmly. Both of them looked at me but only Derek knew what I meant.

"Do you have a plan?" He asked me, with raised eyebrows.

"Just give me and Scott an hour," I replied as I grabbed a tissue and began to clean the cut on Deaton's cheek.

"Then what?" He asked.

"Meet us at the school. In the parking lot," I replied. Derek looked to me and I met his gaze steadily, then he walked away and out of the clinic altogether.

"You okay?" Scott asked me after a moment's silence.

"No," I replied, not looking at him.

"This is a terrible idea," Stiles said to me as we all climbed out of the jeep.

"Yeah I know," I said.

"But we're still gonna do it?" Stiles asked.

"Can you think of something better?" I asked him pointedly.

"Well, personally I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until it eventually goes away," Stiles answered. I cuffed him around the back of the head.

"Just make sure we can get inside," I said.

"He's here," Scott pointed out as the headlights from Derek's car hit us. Stiles grabbed the metal cutters from the back of the jeep.

"Where's our boss?" Scott asked Derek as he got out of the driving seat.

"He's in the back," Derek replied.

"Oh well, he looks comfortable," Stiles said as he peered through the window to Deaton. I nudged him again and so did Scott as he began to walk away from the car. I stayed standing.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Derek called after Scott.

"You said I was linked to the Alpha. I'm gonna see if you're right," Scott explained as he turned and walked away out of sight.

"And you're staying here with me why?" Derek asked me.

"Because if things go wrong, I'm to and quote "get out of here as fast as possible and alert the police" end quote," I replied. Derek nodded and then he met my gaze.

"Won't be necessary, I can protect you," He said. I met his gaze and blushed slightly.

"He's a gentleman is he?" I teased lightly.

"Always," Derek murmured, his eyes on me. I blushed again and looked away. I walked to the jeep and leant against it, moments later Derek going the same so we were shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly the sound of Scott trying to howl sounded around us.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Derek moaned. I giggled and he glared sat me for a moment.

"Sorry...that was just so...bad," I replied. Suddenly a deep howl, or growl, sounded around us. I jumped slightly and looked around. "Okay, that was better," I murmured, slightly scared. Derek turned to me.

"It's just Scott," He said. I nodded.

As they reappeared, Derek rounded on them.

"I'm gonna kill both of you." He said. "What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?" He asked.

"Sorry, I didn't know it would be that loud," Scott said.

"Yeah, it was loud. And it was awesome!" Stiles exclaimed excitedly.

"Shut up," Derek growled.

"Don't be such a sour wolf," Stiles scolded. I grinned at his expression.

"Yeah, Derek, don't be such a sour wolf," I teased. He growled slightly to me and I grinned.

"Ellie? What did you do with him?" Scott asked as he stood by Derek's car.

"What? We didn't do anything," I said, turning around. Deaton was gone. Suddenly Derek had blood running out of his mouth as he was stabbed straight through the middle. I gasped in horror and screamed as I stumbled back into Stiles and Scott, staring at the black beast in front of me. We turned and fled, tears running down my cheeks as I recognised that Derek was dead.


	7. Chapter 7: Night School

"Lock it! Lock it!" I screamed as I backed from the door.

"Do I look like I have a key?" Scott asked me.

"Grab something!" Stiles yelled.

"What?" I asked, looking around.

"Anything!" Scott yelled. I looked through the glass window of the door and saw the metal cutters just outside the door.

"No," Stiles said warningly to me.

"Yes," I replied.

"No, Ellie, don't," Scott told me but I just opened the door, ran out and grabbed the cutters. I looked around.

"Ellie! Run! Ellie!" I heard shouting inside from Scott and Stiles. I looked around at them and they pointed behind me. I turned and saw the beast emerging from the back of the jeep.

"Oh- my god," I murmured in fear. I stood up straight, watching as it began to pounce at me. I turned and began to sprint to the door, gliding through it as the boys shut it behind me, jamming it with the metal cutters. I stumbled back and breathed deeply.

"Where is it? Where did it go? That won't hold it, will it?" Scott rambled.

"Probably not," Stiles said. They began to back away from the doors, Stiles arms coming around me. Suddenly a howl from somewhere around us made us all tense.

"Come on!" Scott exclaimed and we ran to the nearest classroom. I was let in first.

"The desk," I said and we all began to move it to the door. "Stop stop!" I then hissed. "The door's not gonna keep it out," I said.

"I know," Scott said.

"It's your boss," Stiles stated.

"What?" I asked.

"Deaton, the alpha? Your boss," Stiles said to us.

"No," I said immediately.

"Yes, murdering psycho werewolf," Stiles said.

"That can't be," Scott disagreed.

"Oh come on. He disappears and that thing shows up ten seconds later to toss Derek twenty feet through the air? That's not convenient timing?" Stiles said.

"It's not him," Scott protested. I stilled.

"He killed Derek," I whispered and felt tears run down my cheeks.

"No, Derek's not dead. He can't be dead," Scott said to me.

"Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay? That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury." Stiles said. "He's dead and we're next," He added. I felt more tears fall. Scott looked at me.

"Okay, just- what do we do?" Scott asked.

"We get to the jeep," I said a few moments. "We get out of here and then you and I, Scott, seriously think about quitting our jobs...good?" I said, wiping my tears away. Both nodded and we headed to the windows. Scott went to open them.

"No, they don't open. The school's climate- controlled," Stiles told him.

"Then we break it," Scott replied.

"That would make a lot of noise and attract attention," I said.

"Then we run, really fast. Really fast." Scott paused. "Hey, you two, what's wrong with the hood of your jeep?" He asked.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong," I replied, confused.

"It's bent," Scott replied.

"What, like, dented?" Stiles asked.

"No, he means bent," I said, looking ou of the window.

"What the hell-?" Stiles came to stand beside me. At that moment, something smashed through the window, causing me to yelp and Scott to cover me with his body to shelter me from the glass. "That's the battery," He stated as we crawled to underneath the window sill. I held my breath in fear and felt Scott and Stiles both grab my hand tightly. Stiles went to move.

"Don't," I whispered.

"We have to move," He whispered back.

"He could be right outside," Scott whispered too.

"He is right outside," I corrected him.

"Just, let me take a look," Scott said.

"Nothing?" Stiles whispered as Scott looked out.

"No," Scott replied.

"Move now?" I asked.

"Move now," Scott decided. We got up and moved out of the classroom, leaving the battery on the floor. I held Stiles' hand tightly, feeling him squeeze it every ten seconds.

"This way," Scott said, nodding to the hallway.

"No, no no," I protested.

"What?" Stiles asked me.

"Somewhere without windows," I said.

"Every single room in this building has windows," Scott pointed out.

"Well, somewhere with less windows then," I said.

"The locker room," Stiles said. I nodded.

"Yeah." Scott said.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Call your Dad," Scott told us as we made our way into the locker room.

"And tell him what?" I asked.

"I don't know, anything. Gas leak, a fire, whatever. If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars, it'll take off," Scott said.

"What if it doesn't?" I asked him. "What if it goes completely terminator and kills every cop in sight, including our Dad?" I asked him in reply.

"They have guns," Scott stated.

"Yeah and Derek had to be shot with freaking wolfsbane- laced to even slow him down, remember that?" Stiles said.

"Then we- we have to- we have to find a way out and just run for it," Scott said.

"There's nothing near the school for at least a mile," Stiles reminded him.

"Derek's car," I said softly.

"That could work. We go outside, we get the keys off his body and then we take his car," Stiles said.

"And him," I said softly. They both looked at me. "We can't just leave him lying there," I said.

"Ellie, did you have- have a thing for him?" Stiles asked quietly. I didn't reply to him, staying silent.

"Oh god," Scott moaned. "You had a thing for him," He stated. I turned to him as I reached the door.

"Just don't, okay?" I said, turning to him. I went to turn the handle when Scott stopped me. "Scott!" I hissed.

"I think I heard something," Scott said. I froze.

"Like what?" I whispered.

"Quiet," Scott told me. Suddenly I also heard the noise on the other side of the door and began to back away, along with the other two. "Hide," Scott told us. Stiles got into a locker, creating noise. I followed too and knew from the sounds that Scott had down the same. I breathed softly, placing my hands on the back of the locker. I heard the door opening to the locker room and I closed my eyes, trying not to breath too heavily. I leant back from the door of the locker as I heard the footsteps coming towards me. Suddenly footsteps stopped in front of the locker I was inside. As the door opened, I screamed, then stopped abruptly as I saw it was the school janitor, who also screamed. Stiles and Scott got out of their lockers, attempting to shut him up. I knelt to the ground, holding my hands over my mouth and my heart.

"Quiet!" Stiles told the man.

"Quiet my ass, what the hell are you trying to do, kill me? All of you get out of here!" The janitor replied.

"Will you just listen for a half a second okay?" I said to him, recovering slightly.

"Not okay. Get the hell out of here, right now," The guy said.

"God, just one second to explain," Stiles complained as we got pushed out of the locker room.

"Just shut up and go," The janitor said. As the door shut, we heard the snarl as the janitor got killed by the Alpha and the blood left on the glass of the door.

"Go! Go!" I cried, turning and running away with Scott and Stiles following me. We reached the end exit doors and I tried to push them open but they wouldn't. Scott and Stiles also tried but the doors wouldn't open.

"What the hell?" Stiles asked.

"It's a dumpster," Scott said as I looked behind me for any sign of the alpha.

"He pushed it in froth of the door to block us in?" I asked, my voice slightly high in panic.

"Come on, help us," Stiles said to me. I turned and began to push,

"Stop!" Scott said.

"I'm not dying here, Scott. I'm not dying in this freaking place," I said, beginning to push again.

"We're not going to die," Scott replied as he pulled us both away and began to walk down the corridor again.

"God, what is he doing? What does he want?" Stiles rambled.

"Me. Derek says it's stronger with a pack," Scott said. I stopped suddenly. I looked down at my phone and saw it was a text form Jackson.

"Crap," I muttered.

"What?" Stiles asked me.

"I was going to study with Jackson tonight. I'm half an hour late," I replied.

"Wait? You had a study date with Jackson?!" Stiles exclaimed.

"It wasn't a date and it's beyond the point," I said. "Can we just deal with the fact that were currently trapped with a psychotic werewolf who's into teen work...which is just freaking great," I said as I began to walk again. I looked out the window and whimpered. Scott and Stiles looked at me, then what I was gazing at. Which was the Alpha on top of the room opposite us, staring straight at us. Then it began to run at us. I screamed as we began to run because it came right through the glass behind us. I looked behind me to see it chasing us. We burst through a door and Scott fell, causing me to fall over him. We ran down the stairwell an through another door at the bottom. We entered the locker room again and hid behind the locker's.

I heard the growl of the Alpha faintly. Scott looked around the corner of the lockers. Then he ducked back quickly.

"What?" I barely whispered.

"Go," Was all Scott said. I nodded and led the way around the lockers. We entered another room.

"All right, we have to do something," Stiles said.

"Like what?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. Kill it, hurt it, inflict mental anguish on it. Something," I suggested. Both of them looked at me. "What? I am very, very scared," I said.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked Stiles as he went to move the desk.

"The desk, come on, the desk," He replied.

"He can't-" I cut myself off.

"All right," Stiles sighed. I felt my phone vibrate. Jackson.

'You okay? xxx' I sighed and didn't answer it.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked as Stiles went to look out of the window of the door.

"I just wanna get a look at it," Stiles replied.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, hoarsely.

"Look, it's trapped, okay? It's not gonna get out. Yeah, that's right, we got you-"

"Will you shut up!" I screamed at him and he looked at me in shock.

"I'm not scared of this thing. I'm not scared of you. Right, 'cause you're in there and we're out here. You're not going any-"

.I slid down the wall, holding my neck as the Alpha jumped up through the ceiling and into the air con vents. I whimpered again and saw the flashlight flickering. I could feel my magic building up inside of me. Suddenly I heard the ceiling above me begin to break. Scott pulled me up and we began to run again.

We stopped a few minutes later.

"Wait do you hear that?" Scott asked us. I listened and faintly heard a phone ringing.

"Hear what?" Stiles asked.

"It sounds like...a phone ringing," I answered as Scott nodded.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"I know that ring. It's Allison's phone," Scott said. I looked at him incredulously, as did Stiles.

"You have to be kidding me," I muttered. I pulled out my phone and began to call her. She answered immediately.

"Ellie?" She asked. I handed it to Scott.

"No, it's me. Where are you?" He asked her.

"I'm in the school looking for you," I heard her say. "Why aren't you at my place? And why didn't Ellie turn up at Jackson's?"

"Where are you right now?" Scott asked her, ignoring her question.

"On the first floor," She replied. I grabbed the phone off of him.

"Where? Where are you exactly?" I asked her.

"The swimming pools," She replied. "Ellie, what is going on?"

"Get to the lobby. Go now," I said and handed the phone back to Scott as we began to head to the lobby too.

We met with Allison and stopped dead.

"Why did you come? What are you doing here?" Scott asked her,

"Because you asked me to," She replied confused. Scott looked at us, then back at Allison. Allison looked at our expressions too.

"I asked you to?" Scott asked her quietly.

"Why do I get the feeling you didn't send this message?" Allison asked, showing him the phone. I gasped breathily as I read it.

"It's because he didn't," I said gently.

"Did you drive here?" Stiles asked.

"Jackson did," She replied. "He was worried about Ellie," She added. I looked her, surprised.

"Jackson's here too?" Scott asked.

"And Lydia," Allisom said. I groaned and held my hand to my forehead. "What's going on? Who sent this text?" She answered her phone as it began to ring. "Where are you?" She asked into her phone.

"We are all dead," I said to Stiles and Scott quietly. Lydia and Jackson appeared in the lobby seconds later and I breathed in relief. Jackson immediately came to stand next to me.

"Finally. Can we go now?" Lydia asked. Creaking of the ceiling sounded above us as the Alpha moved and snarled. I saw Allison and Scott link hands and I was dimly aware of Jackson doing the same to me.

"Run. Just run!" I cried in panic. We ran up the stairs as the alpha dropped from the ceiling. Lydia screamed and went to stumble but I let go of Jackson's hand and took hold of her's instead. We entered a room at the far end of the corridor and Scott and I began to lock the bolts on it. I backed away from the door.

"Help me get this in front of the door," Scott said to Jackson and they began to shift furniture to block the door up.

"Scott, wait, not here," Stiles said.

"What was that? Scott, what was that? Allison asked.

"What came out of the ceiling?" Lydia asked.

"Will you just help me? The chairs, stack the chairs," Scott replied.

"Guys- can we just wait a second? You guys, listen to me- w- can we wait a second? Guys? Stiles talking . Can we hang on one second, please?" I looked at the windows and realised.

"Just stop!" I screamed desperately and everyone turned to look at me.

"Great job guys...beautiful job..." Stiles complimented me.

"What do we do about the twenty foot wall of windows?" I asked them, tears falling again. They all looked to the windows and then realised.

"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on, because I'm freaking out here. And I would like to know why. Scott?" Allison said, looking to him.

"Somebody killed the janitor," Stiles stated. I shot him a look.

"What?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, the janitor's dead," He said.

"What's he talking about? Is this a joke?" Allison asked.

"What, who killed him?" Jackson asked.

"No, no, no, no. This was supposed to be over. The mountain lion killed-" Lydia was cut off.

"No, don't you get it? There wasn't a mountain lion," Jackson said to her.

"Who was it? What does he want? What's happening? Scott!" Allison was getting hysterical and I was now leaning on the desk like Scott, my head in my hands. I felt myself crying but I couldn't wipe my tears away.

"I-I don't know. I- I just- if-if we got out there, he's gonna kill us," Scott said.

"Us? He's gonna kill us?" Lydia asked.

"Who? Who is it?" Allison asked. I breathed softly and looked to both Scott and Stiles.

"It's Derek. Derek Hale," I lied softly.

"Derek killed the janitor?" Jackson asked me.

"Are you sure?" Allison asked me.

"I saw him. I- I was the one to meet him here," I replied. They all looked to me.

"The mountain li-" Lydia started but I cut her off.

"No, Lydia. Derek killed all of them...he's...he's the guy I was talking about the other day," I said softly. Lydia's face softened and she motioned to me to come towards her. I did so and I hugged her tightly.

"All of them?" Allison asked.

"Yeah, starting with his own sister," Scott replied.

"The bus driver?" Allison asked again.

"And the guy in the video store- it's been Derek the whole time. He's in here with us and if we don't get out now- he's going to kill us too," I said as I pulled away from Lydia.

"Call the cops," Jackson said.

"No," Stiles said immediately.

"Wh- what do you mean 'no'?" Jackson asked.

"I mean no. You wanna hear it in Spanish? Look, Derek killed three people, okay? We don't know what he's armed with?" Stiles said.

"Your's and Ellie's Dad is armed with an entire sheriff's department. Call him," Jackson answered,

"I'm calling," Lydia said.

"No, Lydia, would you just hold on a sec-" I was cut off as Lydia began speaking.

"Yes, we're at Beacon Hills High School. We're trapped and we need you to-but- she hung up on me," Lydia said uncertainly. I looked at her.

"The police hung up on you?" Allison asked.

"She said they got a tip off warning them that there are gonna be prank calls about a break in at the high school. She said if I called again that they're gonna trace it and have me arrested," Lydia explained.

"Okay, then call again," Allison said.

"No, they won't trace a cell...they'll send a car to your house before they send anyone here," Stiles said. Allison looked to me for co formation and I nodded.

"What the- what- what is this? Why does Derek wanna kill us? Why is he killing anyone?" Allisom's asked. Everyone looked towards me and Scott.

"Why's everyone looking at us?" Scott asked.

"Is he the one that sent her the text?" Lydia asked.

"No. I mean. I don't know," Scott said.

"Is he the one that called the police?" Allison asked.

"I don't know!" Scott shouted.

"All right, why don't we ease back on the throttle here, yeah?" Stiles said, pushing me and Scott back into a corner. "Okay, first off, throwing Derek under the bus, nicely done," Stiles said to me.

"I didn't know what to say. I had to say something and if he's dead then it doesn't matter, right? Except if he's not." I replied.

"Oh god, I totally just bit her head off," Scott muttered.

"And she'll totally get over it. Bigger issues at hand here, like how do we get out alive?" Stiles replied.

"But we are alive. It could've killed us already. It's like it's cornering us or something," Scott pointed out.

"So what, he wants to eat us all at the same time?" Stiles asked.

"No! Derek said it wants revenge," I said.

"Against who?" Scott asked.

"Allison's family?" I asked. "Maybe that's what the text was about. Someone had to send it," I added.

"Okay, as heads- new plan," Jackson said. We turned to him. "Stiles calls his useless Dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and decent aim. Are we good with that?" It went silent for a moment. Then I stalked over to Jackson and slapped him hard. Everyone looked at me in shock.

"My Dad is not useless, got that?" I hissed. "But he's right. We have to call him," I added. Lydia, Jackson and Allison was looking at me like I had gone insane. Which I probably had with all the terror filling my body.

"I'm not watching Dad get eaten alive," Stiles said to me.

"All right, give me the phone," Jackson walked over to us. I turned and punched him the nose. He fell onto the floor.

"Jackson! Are you okay? Hey, are you okay?" Allison said to him, kneeling down beside him. I pulled out my phone and called my Dad.

"Hey Dad, it's me," I said and then I heard the bleep of the voicemail. "And it's your voicemail. Look, I need you to call me or Stiles back now. Like right now. We're at the school. dad, we're at the school," I said. Suddenly there was banging on the door. I turned to it, leaning forward and pulling Lydia towards me more.

"Oh my god," Lydia said.

"The kitchen, the door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell," Stiles said.

"Which only goes up." Scott replied.

"Up is better than here," I said, as everyone began running and went inside another classroom.

"Jackson, how many people can fit into your car?" Scott asked him as he blocked the door with a chair.

"Six,if someone squeezes on on someone's lap," Jackson replied.

"Five? I can barely fit in the back," Allison said.

"It doesn't matter. There's no getting out without attention," Stiles said. I looked around the classroom.

"What about this? This leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape to the parking lot in, like seconds," I suggested.

"That's a deadbolt," Stiles said.

"The janitor has a key," Scott said.

"You mean his bod has a key," Stiles corrected.

"I can get it. I can find him by scent, by blood," Scott said.

"Well, gee, that sounds like an incredibly terrible idea. What else you got?" Stiles said.

"We're getting the key," I said to everyone.

"Are you serious?" Allison asked me.

"Well it's the best plan. Someone has to felt the key if we wanna get out of here," I said.

"You can't go out there unarmed," Jackson said. I breathed deeply.

"It's the best plan for me to go because I was the one who was involved with Derek. I was the one who met him here tonight," I said.

"You mean?" Allison asked. I nodded.

"There's gotta be something else," Stiles said.

"There is," Lydia spoke up. She looked towards the acid cabinets.

"What are we gonna do? Throw acid on him?" Stiles asked.

"No, like a firebomb. In there is everything you need to make a self igniting Molotov cocktail," Lydia explained. We all looked to her.

"What? I read it somewhere," She said, defensively.

"Lydia l love you," I said as we began to move.

As soon as we finished, Lydia handed me and Scott the bombs.

"No, no, this is insane. You can't do this. You cannot go out there," Allisom said.

"We can't just sit here waiting for my Dad to check his messages," I replied.

"You could die. Don't you get? He's killed three people," She said.

"And we're next. Somebody had to do something," I said.

"Ellie. Just stop. Do you remember- do you remember when you told me you know wether or not I was lying? That I had a tell. Well, so do you. You're a horrible liar and you've been lying all night...just please don't leave us, either of you," She began crying,

"Lock the door behind us." Scott finalised. Allison pulled him back and kissed him before letting him go. We walked out into the corridor and held hands tightly. I wiped tears from my face that Allison had caused.

"Why are you here, Ellie? With me?" Scott asked.

"Because I have a secret," I replied.

"Which is?" He asked, sounding scared.

"I'm a witch, Scott. I really have been seeing Derek and meeting him all the time because he found out I'm a witch and he's been helping me," I explained in a rush. Scott looked at me in shock and then he nodded. "You believe me?" I asked him,

"Yeah...I do," He said slowly. We heard a far distant growl and I turned to look down the hallway. We walked into the gym and i felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. "You okay?" He asked.

"I can sesame foreboding...it's one of my powers...I can sense that he's here," I said in reply. We ducked under the bleachers. I saw blood drop onto Scott's face and I looked up to see the janitor hung from there. I let out a gasp. I saw the keys and Scott began to climb up to get them. I looked around in case the Alpha was around. Suddenly the stands began to fold in, meaning we were going to get trapped.

"Scott!" I exclaimed, beginning to panic.

"Go!" He exclaimed as he dropped. I ran, only just clearing in time as did Scott. We looked around us. I saw the Alpha from the corner of the room and Scott pulled me behind him.

"My god," I breathed in fear.

"Ellie, get back to the room," Scott told me. "Go!" He shouted. I nodded and handed him my firebomb before taking the key and running out of the gym. I turned down the corridor. I heard the snarl echo around me and I stopped, turning behind me.

"Oh my god...Scott... Oh my god," I whispered. I began to run again. I rounded a corner and paused. Then I heard footsteps. I looked around the corner and saw a fully changed Scott. My breathing stuttered and I began to move again, quietly. I turned another corner And heard Scott scrape his claws on the wall metres from me. I walked into the main corridor and then I saw Scott behind me. "Oh no," I whispered, backing up. Scott focused on me for a moment, then he just turned and looked at the classroom to where The others were. I watched as he stopped, not moving. I moved backwards and began to run again. I then heard sirens and ran to the exit doors of the school. I ran out as they pulled up and fell to the floor.

"Ellie!" I heard Stiles scream and turned to see him, Jackson, Lydia and Allison looking at me. I began crying, hiding my head in my hands as Dad got out and hugged me tightly.

"What's happened -?" Dad asked. I just shook my head, crying harder.

"Listen...were gonna search this whole school. Were gonna find him. Okay? I promise," Dad said and walked off as one of his deputies called him.

"Well, we survived died, you know? We outlasted the alpha. It's still good, right? Being alive?" Stiles said to us.

"When we were in the chemistry room, he walked right by us. You don't think that it heard us? It knew where we right were?" Scott replied. "It wants me in it's pack. But I think first- I have to get rid of my old pack," He added.

"What do you mean? What old pack?" Stiles asked.

"Allison, Jackson, Lydia, you two," Scott said, meeting my eyes. I realised.

"The alpha doesn't want to kill us," I replied.

"It wants me to do it and that's not even the worst part," Scott said.

"How in gods name is that not the worst part, Scott?" Stiles asked.

"Because when he made me shift- I wanted to do it. I wanted to kill you. All of you.."

"It's why you stalked me," I said softly. I looks over at the ambulance and frowned. "It can't be," I whispered as I as walked over.

"There you are," Deaton said to us.

"How- How did you-?" Scott asked.

"Not easily,and I hear it's all thanks to you three. I think I owe you a raise," Deaton replied. Dad the. Ushered us away to where Jackson, Lydia and Allison stood. As Allison and Scott began to talk or argue and so did Stiles and Jackson, I looked away, towards where Derek's body should be...and wasn't. I felt my breathing stop, my heart beat fast. I saw Scott looking at me worriedly as fresh tears began to fall. Then I closed my eyes and saw the red eyes of the Alpha inside my mind.

"Ellie?"

"Oh my god!"

"Ellie! Ellie!"

Those shouts were the last things I heard before it went black around me.


	8. Chapter 8: Lunatic

I woke up to blinding white lights and the murmur of people talking around me.

"Stiles?" I murmured softly but I was heard in the room as all talking stopped and then Dad's and Stiles' faces were above me, both holding worried expressions.

"Hey, Elles. How you feeling?" Dad asked.

"I..." I trailed off, mentally assessing how I was feeling. "Fine. Just tired," I finished.

"You're exhausted, that's why," Melissa McCall's voice came from the foot of the bed and I lifted my head slightly to see her smiling warmly at me. "What happened, what you went through in the school last night exhausted you, made your body shut down," She explained. I frowned in confusion.

"Last night?" I asked, looking to Stiles and Scott.

"Ellie, you've been out for nearly a day," Scott said. I nodded once in confirmation.

"When can I get out of here?" I asked Melissa tiredly, sitting up more.

"Tomorrow morning," She replied. "Now, why don't I get your Dad a cup of coffee and leave you and the boys to talk things over?" She asked. I looked to them, then back to her and I nodded, agreeing. Dad leaned over and kissed my forehead before walking out with Melissa.

"What did I miss?" I asked Scott and Stiles.

"Well, Scott got dumped," Stiles stated. My eyes widened and I looked to Scott, surprised.

"Oh hell..." I said as he nodded. "They hate me, don't they?" I said, in a small voice after a moment. I closed my eyes.

"No, actually. Since they've been outside your room for the last half an hour," Scott said. "It's more, me, that they're angry at," He added. I grimaced.

"Do you want us to send them in?" Stiles asked. I nodded, my eyes still closed. I felt the pair of them kiss my cheek as they left and my room went silent for a moment. Behind my eyes I could see the Alpha's eyes, the image of him chasing after us, the dead janitor, Derek being killed, Scott...

"Ellie?" I heard Lydia's voice say timidly in the doorway and I opened my eyes and smiled tiredly as I saw her, Allison and Jackson stood there.

"How are you?" Allison asked. I shrugged.

"Emotionally and physically exhausted, so I've been diagnosed," I replied. Lydia and Allison leaned down and hugged me gently, then Jackson leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry," I said softly.

"For what?" Allison asked.

"Last night," I whispered. Suddenly I felt Jackson's hand enclose mine.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. You wasn't to know what Derek was going to do, or had done...just get better and rest," He said. I nodded. The door to my room re opened.

"Hey, guys, I'm really sorry but visiting time is over," Melissa said. Everyone nodded and began to move out, giving me another hug and saying "goodbye,". I was left alone again and before I could let my thoughts get the better of myself again, I willed myself to sleep.

The next night, I had been pulled from my room by Stiles, just like Scott had also been dragged too.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as I linked arms with Scott.

"You'll see," Stiles' reply had me frowning.

"'Cause we really shouldn't be out here. My Mom is in a constant state of freak out form what happened at the school," Scott replied.

"Well, your Mom isn't the Sheriff, okay? There's no comparison, trust me," I said.

"Can you at least just tell us what we're doing out here?" Scott asked.

"Yes, when one of your best friend's get dumped-" Stiles was cut off.

"I didn't get dumped. We're taking a break," Scott said.

"All right, well, when your best friend gets told by his girlfriend that they're taking a break- you get your best friend drunk," Stiles said. I stopped momentarily.

"Stiles Stilinski, I'm not drinking," I said. Stiles just turned and raised his eyebrows at me. "Okay, I'll have one, but that's it," I amended.

An hour later and Stiles was the only one drunk. And by drunk, I mean, completely smashed.

"Dude, you know, she's just one- one girl." Stiles said. "You know, there are so many- there are so many other girls in the sea," He finished.

"Fish in the sea," I corrected for him, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Fish? Why you talking about fish, Ellie?" Stiles asked confused. "I'm talking about girls. I love girls. I love 'em. I love especially ones with strawberry blond hair, green eyes, five foot three-"

"Like Lydia?" Scott asked, cutting off Stiles and sharing an amused look with me.

"Yeah, exactly." Stiles said. "Hey, how did you know I was talking about- about- what was I talking about?" He asked. I giggled. "Hey, you're both not happy. Take a drink," He demanded.

"I don't want anymore," Scott said and I shook my head too.

"You're not drunk?" Stiles asked us.

"I'm not anything," Scott replied.

"Hey, maybe it's like- maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore, you know. Maybe you can't get drunk as a wolf." Stiles suggested, even in his state, he could still come up with suggestions for explanations. "Am I drunk?" He then asked.

"You're wasted, Stiles," I answered.

"Yeah!" Stiles cheered. "Come on, you two. I know it feels bad. I know it hurts. Well, I don't know. But I know this. I know that as much as being broken up hurts, being alone is way worse. That didn't make any sense, I need a drink," Stiles said, leaning over for the bottle but was stopped by a hand. I jumped backwards and stood up in my fright.

"Well, look at the three little bitches getting their drink on," The first guy said, picking up the bottle.

"Give it back," Scott commanded.

"What's that, little man?" The first guy asked to Scott.

"I think he wants a drink," The second guy mocked.

"He wants the bottle," I spoke up, my voice calm. Scott looked to me.

"Ellie, maybe we should just go," Stiles said.

"You brought us here to get drunk, Stiles. I'm not drunk yet." I said, a new feeling washing over me. "Give me the bottle. Give me the bottle of Jack," I said to the guy. He looked at me and then I felt my power build up and I let go throwing the guy fifty yards away from me as I took the bottle from him. I felt the fire behind me grow hotter.

"Ellie-" Scott said. The two guys began to run away and I let my breath out slowly, turning around to face my brother and Scott, both looking at me with scared expressions. I saw the fire was still burning fiercely and I looked at it once; the result of it was it immediately dying out. I turned and began to walk away, knowing the other two were following me.

"Okay, Ellie, what the hell was that?" Stiles asked, sounding completely sober.

"Forget it, Stiles." I said.

"No I'm not forgetting the fact that you just did some sort of weird magic," Stiles replied. He grabbed my hand and forced me to face him. "Hey," He said softly. I looked at him and sighed.

"It was weird magic," I said slowly. "I'm...uh...a Druid...like a sort of witch," I admitted honestly. Stiles looked at me in realisation and then he hugged me.

"When did you find out?" He asked.

"When I went to confront Derek, weeks ago. He went to attack me and I threw him through a wall or two," I replied. "I'm all alone, Stiles. I have no one to help me and I don't know what to do. My powers are getting stronger and stronger daily," I said into his shoulder. Scott stepped forward and hugged me too. I felt myself begin to cry and let them just hold me tightly.

"You have us, Elles. You have me," Stiles muttered into my neck.

The next morning, I was getting ready for school. I sighed as I pulled my hair up into a bun and turned to grab my bag off of my wicker chair in the corner of my room.

"Hey," Stiles said to me from the doorway. I turned, jumping slightly and sighing as my bedside lamp flickered.

"Hey," I replied.

"You sure you want to do this today?" He asked, referring to the fact that I was returning to school after being off for a day or two.

"Yes, no...yes," I decided. Stiles looked unsure at me. "Stiles, if I don't go in today, then I'll be here, sitting, moping around, wondering about my life and I can't deal with the thought of that right now. I need to keep busy and act normal," I said. Stiles nodded and I smiled softly at him. "Come on," I added.

I was at my locker as I saw Allison and Lydia walking down towards me. I closed my locker and began to walk quickly until I heard Lydia shout my name. I walked more quickly, but then she had grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to turn around and look at her.

"You're avoiding us," She accused. I didn't reply.

"Ellie-" Allison started.

"Don't. Don't. I can't-" I cut myself off and breathed deeply. "I just can't talk about it or deal with it today. Or tomorrow. Or for a while," I finished. Allison and Lydia shared looks at each other and then they hugged me.

"Okay. We don't mention anything to do with it," Lydia said. I nodded and let them pull me to class, talking about anything else other than what had happened to us at the school. As we walked around a corner, I saw Stiles sitting there. I turned to Lydia and Allison.

"I'll meet you in class." I told them.

"You sure?" Allison asked. I nodded and they walked off. I turned and breathed deeply, trying to gather my senses. Then I felt a familiar feeling in my chest. Dad was in the classroom. I walked over to Stiles.

"He's going to kill you," I commented as I sat down beside him.

"Us both now, actually," He replied. "And how did you..?" He trailed off as I shot him a look. "You can sense people?" He asked.

"I think it's more the fact I can sense their presence...souls...essence...whatever you want to call it," I answered. He nodded. Suddenly the classroom door came over and Dad and a few of his deputies appeared.

"We are watching his family's house, maybe he'll wind up there,. Give me a second," he said as he saw us standing there. "Don't you two have a test to get to?" He asked us.

"What's going on?" Stiles asked.

"Did you find Derek?" I also asked. Dad looked at me and sighed.

"I'm working on it, Elles. You two go take your test," He replied.

"All right, but Dad, listen to me, please," I replied.

"Go!" Dad nudged me.

"This is really important. You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight," I said.

"Ellie, I'm always careful," He replied.

"Dad, you've never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay?" Stiles spoke up. "At least not lie, this," He added.

"I know. Which is why I brought in people who have. State Detective. Go take your test," He replied. I nodded, kissing his cheek and walking away. I couldn't get rid of the feeling in my stomach and that scared me more than anything else, including the Alpha, right now.

Sitting in the classroom was making me feel worse. I felt boxed in and I could tell Scott felt the same. As we started the test, I felt more ill. I put my head in my hands, completely forgetting the test. I closed my eyes, reliving the night in the school again, then last night. I could feel my heart beginning to beat fast and I lifted my head to see Scott looking at me concerned, despite the fact that he also looked like he was about to collapse. I grabbed my bag, stood up and ran from the room.

"Miss Stilinski? Mr McCall? Mr Stilinski!" I heard Harris shout after us. I slowed down slightly as I looked around the corridor, then I made my way to the locker rooms. I slid down the nearest locker and watched as Scott ran past me into the showers. I felt tears falling again and I began to shake as I began to sob.

"Ellie?" I heard Stiles say.

"He's in there," I pointed to the showers and he walked past. I heard their conversation and finally I stood up and walked into the showers, leaning against the wall. "You okay?" I asked Scott gently.

"Are you? You were the one who ran first," He replied. I didn't respond for a moment. Then I nodded my head.

"I looked at her and it was like someone hit me in the ribs with a hammer," Scott said.

"Yeah, it's called heartbreak. About two billion songs written about it," Stiles quipped.

"I can't stop thinking about her," Scott said as I slid down the wall and leant my head back.

"Well, you could think about this: her dad's a werewolf hunter, and you're a werewolf, so it was bound to become an issue." Stiles said, I glared at him for a second as I began to think. "That wasn't helpful. Dude, I mean, yeah, you got dumped and it's supposed to suck," Stiles amended.

"No that's not it. It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone's else's emotions," Scott was saying.

"It's got to be the full moon...and I think it's affecting me as well. I'm finding it easier to use my powers or...my powers are coming through easier." I spoke up.

"So well just lock you up in your room, Scott and we'll get Ellie some sedatives and knock her out for the night," Stiles suggested. "That way, no one can get to the either of you," He added.

"I think we'll have to do a lot more than lock me in my room," Scott spoke up.

"What, you mean because if you got out, you'd be caught by hunters?" Stiles asked.

"No. Because if I get out- I think I might kill someone," Scott replied. I leant my head back into the shower wall again sighing. Tonight was going to be a bitch.

I was sat at lunch, feeling a lot better than I had done earlier. I bit into my cookie when I felt a presence next to me and saw it was Jackson, sitting beside me.

"Hey...uh, you got something on your- here let me," He said, leaning across and wiping away a crumb that was on my lip. I blushed slightly and smiled.

"Thanks," I said softly as he licked his finger. I laughed.

"Yeah," He said, smiling.

"Do you want the bite?" I asked as I looked down to my books.

"What?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Do you want a bite?" I asked, looking up and holding out my cookie.

"Oh, no, thanks," He replied. "Are you doing okay?" He then asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, are you?" I asked.

"Better than I thought I would be. You still thinking about everything that happened?" He asked.

"Dreaming, having flashbacks...I'm more worried about Allison and Scott than anything else to be honest." I replied.

"Don't be. They will sort themselves out. You were the one to collapse and then spend a full day unconscious in hospital," Jackson said. "Focus on yourself," He added. I nodded and leant into his side slightly, feeling like I could trust him.

I walked out onto the side field and waved at Jackson, then at Stiles.

"Ellie, hey," Dionne said to me as I walked over to my cheer team who were warming up.

"Why aren't you changed?" Yasmin asked me.

"Oh, didn't any of you hear? Riley's off with her boyfriend again so I'm calling practice off for today. I'm just..." I paused and turned to watch Jackson the on the field. "Not that up to cheer squad today," I trailed off. I looked back to the squad.

"So, no cheer today?" Joanne asked.

"Yes. No cheer today... So scram," I snapped. They all looked shocked.

"Are you okay, Ellie?" Dionne asked tentatively.

"Oh I'm fine," I grinned at her. "Just peachy," I added and then I walked off to the stand to watch the lacrosse. I walked up to Stiles. "So, first line...how did you manage to bribe Coach to let you play?" I asked him. He looked surprised to see me as did Harry.

"Isn't cheer on today?" Harry asked. I smiled sweetly at him.

"No. Harry. I decided to let them off for one day...go see a movie or...watch other things," He blushed slightly and smirked as Danny nudged him. "Where's Lydia?" I asked Jackson as he passed me.

"No idea." He replied, hugging me gently and then walking off to Coach. I smiled after him, grinning as he turned and smiled to me.

As practice started and Scott hit Danny and Danny went down, I walked over to Scott.

"Nice shot," I complimented him. He grinned at me whilst Stiles grabbed my wrist.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" He asked.

"Nothing," I replied with a smile. "Come on Stiles. They're were gunning for Scott on person. Stupid jealous dicks," I said and then I walked past them to where Danny was lying, with Jackson and Lydia also joining them.

"Is he okay?" Lydia asked.

"It looks like he just has a bloody nose-" Jackson broke off as he looked at Lydia. I also looked at her and saw that her lipstick was out of place...like she'd been kissing someone. I raised my eyebrows.

"What?" Lydia asked.

"Your lipstick," I pointed out. Lydia pulled out her compact mirror from her bag and wiped the lipstick away.

"Oh, wonder how that happened," She said.

"Yeah. I wonder," Jackson muttered. I squeezed his arm comfortingly, knowing his current thoughts and walked back to the stand. I turned and saw Stiles' face and smirked. I didn't know what had happened between lunch and now, but it was like my emotions, my ability to have emotions had been cut off or numbed and I liked it. It meant I didn't have to worry about anything that had happened.

After practice, Lydia had said she was going home straight away, not waiting for Jackson. I nodded and said I was waiting for Stiles. We parted ways and I smiled to myself as I saw Jackson coming out of the locker room.

"Where's Lydia?" He asked me.

"Oh, she...uh, went home," I replied. He nodded. "You alright?" I asked him. He just nodded and stepped forward, touching his arm. "You sure?" I asked again, meeting his gaze. His eyes were intensely focused on me and then they dropped to my lips. I let my faze also drop to Jackson's lips and then back up. Jackson pushed me back into an empty classroom and his lips met mine in a frenzied, hurried kiss. I let him lift me up onto a desk whilst I wrapped my arms around his neck, his hands on my waist and thighs.

Stiles and I let ourselves into Scott's house.

"Scott?" I heard Melissa call, her figure walking into the hallway. "Key!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I had one made so-" Stiles explained.

"That doesn't surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn't surprise me. What is that?" She asked as I dropped the bag of chains onto the carpet.

"Uh, school project," I replied.

"Mmmm," Melissa said. "Stiles, Ellie. He's okay, right?" She added.

"Who? Scott? Yeah, totally," Stiles answered.

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore. Not like he used to," She said.

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week," I suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Yeah um okay, uh- be careful tonight," She said.

"You too," Stiles replied.

"Full moon," Melissa stated.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"There's a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nut jobs," Melissa replied.

"Oh," I said relieved.

"Yeah,"

"Right," Stiles said.

"You know, it's um, actually where they came up with the word 'lunatic'," Melissa informed us as she left the house through the front door. I looked at Stiles.

"Right," I said. "You can carry that up," I added, motioning to the bag on the floor and making my way upstairs in front of him.

I opened Scott's bedroom door and jumped back as I saw Scott sat in his chair in the corner.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed.

"Dude! You scared the hell out of her. And me. Your mom said you weren't home yet," Stiles said.

"I came in through the window," Scott replied.

"Okay, well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what I brought," Stiles said.

"I'm fine. I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight," Scott answered. I shared a look with Stiles.

"You sure about that?" I asked. "'Cause you've got this kind of serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect as it's really starting to freak me out," I said.

"I'm fine," Scott repeated. "You both should go now," He added.

"All right, we'll leave." Stiles said. "Well, look, would you at least look in the bag and see what I brought? You know, maybe you can use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?" he added.

"You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?" Scott asked. His voice going weird and standing up slowly.

"Actually no," Stiles said and then lunged at Scott and handcuffed him to the radiator. I stared at him in shock.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him.

"Protecting him from himself and giving him some payback- for making out with Lydia," Stiles said. Suddenly my phone went off to signal a text. I replied to it.

"I've got to go and meet up with someone," I said, leaving them to it.

"Ellie? What do I do with him?" Stiles asked.

"Carry on with your current plan, whatever the hell it actually is!" I called back as I felt the house.

I made my way into the sportswear store and began to look around. I saw a mini crossbow and held it up, looking through the eyepiece and panning it around. I then stopped as it focused on Jackson, who was standing, smiling at me. He walked over to me and I smiled as I put down the crossbow.

"Okay, what are we doing here?" I asked him.

"I get the feeling you could use someone to talk to," Jackson said. I grimaced as I knew he right.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked him, glad it wasn't awkward between the two of us since we'd make out hours before.

"Maybe 'cause I'm kind of feeling the same way," He replied. I looked up at him and nodded, then I saw Allison and I felt cold run through me as she saw me and turned away.

"I've- I've got to go," I said to Jackson and he looked at me surprised. "I'm sorry. I'll see you whenever," I added and ran from the store and to the jeep, getting in and following my instincts where my powers were taking me. I ignored my phone as it rang and drove straight to the woods and climbed out, looking around me. My instincts felt wrong to be here. I then climbed back into the jeep and drove along the road. I saw the police, ambulance and other emergency crew there. I recognised Stiles' jeep and Dad's car.

"Oh...no," I whispered horrified. I climbed out and ran to the ambulance, seeing Stiles and Dad stood there. "Dad, Stiles?" I asked. They turned to me and then Stiles was hugging me tightly, Dad coming to do the same.

"I thought it was you," Stiles whispered into my ear. I nodded, letting him know I had thought the same thing. I looked up and saw another car roll up. A wave of nausea ran through me and I saw it was Kate and Chris Argent and their expressions were hard.


	9. Chapter 9: Wolf's Bane

I was in my room when Stiles and Scott bounded through the door. I jumped in surprise.

"What the hell, guys?!" I demanded, holding my hand still on my chest.

"Sorry...it's just..." Scott trailed off and grinned at me. At that moment I saw someone come through the window and I screamed. Then Derek Hale was on his knees in front of me, hand on my mouth. I widened my eyes in shock.

"Stopped screaming?" He asked. I nodded. He took away his hand with a smirk.

"I- how-I?" I asked, stumbling over my words. Derek just shook his head and I nodded. I looked at the three of them and sighed. "Was it is I have to do?" I asked, fighting to keep my smile off my face. Stiles and Scott grinned at me.

As the keys were handed to me, I looked up.

"You have to be joking," I said. Three eyebrows raised at me. I sighed and I nodded. "If we get caught, I'm so blaming you three," I added as I got up swiftly.

"Faster?" I asked Scott and Stiles.

"Much faster," Stiles replied. I nodded and out my foot down on the accelerator.

"Ellie, I don't think you're grasping the concept of the car chase here," Stiles quipped after the next ten minutes of the car behind us, gaining on us.

"If I go faster, I'll kill us," I replied.

"Well, if you don't go faster, they're gonna kill us!" Scott replied. I sighed and pushed the gear lever up, pressing my foot down on the gas pedal even more. We went even faster and then Stiles broke the silence.

"They're gone!" He said. I looked in the mirror and smiled in relief.

"All units, suspect is on foot heading into the Iron Works," I heard Dad's voice coming through the Walkie talkie. I shared a look with Stiles and turned the car right.

I pulled into the Iron Works beside Derek and Stiles opened the door and climbed into the back with Scott.

"Get in!" I shouted at him. He ran and climbed in. I pressed the gas pedal down barely before he'd even shut the door. "What part of laying low don't you understand?" I asked him, angrily.

"Damn it, I had him," Derek exclaimed.

"Who? the Alpha?" Scott asked, him and Stiles both leaning forwarding the back of Derek's and mine seats.

"Yes!" Derek said. "He was right in front of me and the friggin' police showed up," He added.

"Whoa. Hey, they're just doing their jobs-" Stiles said defensively.

"Yeah, thanks to someone who decided to make me the most wanted fugitive in the entire state," Derek said, with a look to Scott. I looked at Scott curiously in the rear view mirror.

"Can we seriously get past that? I made a dumbass mistake. I get it," Scott replied.

"Actually..Derek," I spoke up. "It wasn't Scott, okay? It was me." I admitted. Derek looked to me with a surprised expression. "I'm sorry, I really am. But I panicked and I thought you were..." I trailed off. I looked ahead as the car fell silent. Then I felt a hand on top of mine that lay on the gear stick. I jumped slightly and then I felt the fingers of the hand interlock with mine. I looked down and saw it was Derek's. I looked up and met his gaze, before looking back to the road.

"All right, how did you find him?" Stiles asked, looking awkward and curious at the fact of what had just occurred between me and Derek; and also that our fingers were still linked together.

Derek just shook his head.

"Can you try to trust us for at least half a second?" Scott asked him.

"Yeah, all three of us. Or just them two. I'll be back here," Stiles said, leaning back. I felt an instinct and squeezed his hand slightly. I felt his eyes on me for a second.

"Look, the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out," Derek started. "She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris,"

"Our chemistry teacher?" I asked. "Why him?" I added.

"I don't know yet," Derek told me. I moved my hand to shift it to the wheel and then move it back to the gear stick. Derek's hand latched to mine again.

"What's the second?" Scott asked.

"Some kind of symbol," Derek said, pulling out a drawing from his jacket pocket. I looked over to it briefly but felt Scott's breath on my neck stutter. "What? You two know what this is?" Derek asked us.

"I've seen it on a necklace." Scotf said.

"Allison's necklace," I added, sharing a look with Scott and Stiles in the back as Derek's hand squeezed mine for a second before releasing my hand. Something had changed between us since he'd been dead or...healing.

"This is gonna be impossible, you know," Scott said to us as we walking into school the next day.

"Why don't you just ask her if you can borrow it?" Stiles asked him.

"How?" Scott asked.

"It's easy, Scott. You just say "Hey, Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything on it or in it that can lead me to an Alpha werewolf that I need to kill in order to get back together with you?"," I said sarcastically. Stiles looked impressed at me whilst Scott just rolled his eyes.

"You're not helping," He told me. I sighed.

"Why don't you just talk to her?" I asked.

"She won't talk to me. What if she, like, only takes it off in the shower or something?" Scott asked us.

"That why you ease- that's why you ease back into it, okay? Get back on the good side, remember her of the good times. And then you ask her for the necklace." Stiles said. I judged Scott's facial expression.

"You're thinking about her in the shower, aren't you?" I asked him dryly.

"Yeah." Scott answered.

"All right, stay focused, okay? Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, get Allison. I'm that order. Got it?" Stiles said. Scott nodded and the three of us separated into different directions.

"How the freaking hell did he find out?" I questioned as Stiles, Scott and I walked through the hallways of the school.

"I don't know," Scott replied.

"Did he say out loud- the word?" Stiles asked.

"What word?" Scott asked in reply, looking confused.

"Werewolf," Stiles hissed. "Did he say "I know you're a werewolf?"?" He asked in a lowered tone.

"No, but he implied it pretty freaking clearly," Scott replied, looking frustrated.

"Okay. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I mean, he doesn't have any proof, right? And if wanted to tell someone, who's gonna believe him anyway," Stiles said. I frowned.

"How about Allison's father?" I asked him dryly. Then I thought for a moment. "The snake!" I hissed. Both Scott and Stiles looked at me, then at each other, confused. "That's why he bloody flirted with me and made out with me the other day," I continued. I realised what I had said and looked towards my brother and best friend.

"Ellie...tell me- please- please tell me you didn't make out with Jackson?" Stiles asked. I shot him a blank look and Scott growled.

"Hey! Calm down," I told him, then looked to Stiles. "It was the night of the full moon, okay? My juju powers were strange and my emotions were like, numbed and I don't know...I knew Lydia had kissed Scott and... I kissed him. And then it led to a makeout session," I explained.

"Tell me you didn't..." Scott trailed off with a knowing look.

"No! No! Of course not. I'm not ready for that," I replied, a disgusted expression on my face. Scott and Stiles knew even though I was one of the 'popular' people in school that I hadnt had lost my virginity unlike most of them. Stiles liked to check up on me on that issue...I think the thought of his younger sister, though younger by five minutes, doing that with someone made him want to hurl or even kill someone. There a minute of silence between us.

"Okay it's bad," Stiles determined. I nodded in agreement.

"I need a cure, right now," Scott replied.

"Does he know about Allison's father?" Stiles asked in return.

"I don't know," Scott replied.

"Okay, where's Derek?" Stiles asked, looking at me more than Scott.

"Why are you looking at me?" I asked him.

"I don't know...maybe the whole holding hands thing last night?" He shot back. I rolled my eyes.

"He's hiding, like we told him to," I answered his question, ignoring the second one.

"Why?" Scott asked.

"I have another idea. It's gonna take a little time and finesse though," Stiles said.

"We have the game tonight. It's quarter finals and your first game," Scott reminded him.

"I know, I know," Stiles said. "Look, do you have a plan for Allison yet?" He asked.

"She's in my next class," Scott replied.

"Get the necklace," Stiles commanded.

"Right. Get the necklace," Scott repeated. I looked down for a moment, then back up.

"Guys...Jackson wouldn't know about me, would he?" I asked quietly. "I mean, do the hunters know about me too?" I then asked. "About my kind? Do they hunt my kind?" I questioned. Scott and Stiles looked at each other and I knew they didn't know what to say. Suddenly it became apparent to them. It wasn't just Scott on the line here, or Derek...if the hunters saw me as a threat, I could become their next target too. "Great, just great," I muttered to myself.

Stiles and I met up with Scott after his next class. He looked upset which made me hug him immediately and I felt the tension drain from his body.

"Did you get her to give you the necklace?" Stiles jumped straight in with the question.

"Not exactly," Scott replied, sounding upset.

"Ah," Stiles said. "What happened?" He added.

"She told me not to talk to her. At all," Scott summarised. I winced. Us girls really could be harsh.

"So she's not giving you the necklace-"

"She's not giving him the necklace, Stiles!"I exclaimed, angrily. I saw a light flicker above us and sighed.

"Well, did you find anything else out?" Stiles then asked.

"Just that I know nothing about girls, and that they're totally psychotic," Scott returned. I cuffed him around the back of his head.

"We are not psychotic!" I hissed at him, cuffing him again. He rubbed his head with a raised eyebrow at me. "Okay, we can be at times! Doesn't mean you point it out though," I added.

"Okay, I came up with a plan 'B' just in case anything like this happened," Stiles spoke up.

"What's the plan 'B'?" Scott asked him.

"Just steal the stupid thing," Stiles stated. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Couldn't we try at least getting to Harris?" I then asked.

"Dad out him on a twenty four hour protective detail, okay?" Stiles said. "The necklace is all we got. Steal it," He added to Scott. I felt an uneasy feeling and knew it was my powers. I looked up and saw Jackson looking at Scott, then at me. My throat went dry.

"Stiles, Scott...he's uh, he's watching us," I said quietly. Scott looked up and tensed beside me. Stiles looked at him, then away again seconds later, looking creeped out. "Okay. I have a bad feeling. Like I can sense bad things-" I stopped in the middle of my sentence as Scott looked uneasy. "What is it?" I asked, looking back to Jackson again.

"Jackson's talking to me. He knows I can hear him," Scott told us.

"Look at me." I replied, grabbing his arm and forcing him to turn and face me. "Just turn to me and talk to me and Stiles and pretend you can't hear him," I instructed. Scott focused on my face and nodded. His jaw was still tense.

"Say something. Talk to me!" He hissed suddenly.

"I can't think of anything, my minds a complete blank," Stiles replied.

"Your mind's blank? You can't think of something to say?" Scott questioned him, his gaze still on me.

"Not under this kind of pressure. FYI, he's not even sitting with him anymore," Stiles replied. I looked over and then looked around for him.

"Where the hell is he?" I asked as Scott looked around too.

"Can't you try and sense him?" Stiles asked me. I looked at him and shrugged.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Then try," Was the reply from my brother. I breathed and tried to sense Jackson's presence. I closed my eyes to gain more power but I couldn't concentrate. I felt Scott tense more and more beside me but I found I couldn't pull away from my powers.

"Crap!" I muttered and grabbed Stiles' hand. I opened my eyes and looked at Stiles.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I can't let go of my powers," I replied in an undertone. I looked out of the far window and saw a swirling wind pick up outside. Stiles looked too and then looked back at me.

"Are you doing that?" He asked. I nodded. "Okay, just breathe. Think of something," Stiles said. Suddenly a cracking of the water bottle behind me made me snap out of my powers and I turned to Scott to widen my eyes at how angry he was getting.

"Scott, come on, you can't let him do this. You can't let him have this, ind of power over you, okay?" I said to him.

"Did you track where he was?" Stiles asked me. I shook my head. "Try again," He said.

"I can't, Stiles. If I try again, I'm going to lose myself in my power because I can't control it yet. I could cause a lot of things to happen and I'm not prepared for that yet," I replied, jumping as Scott snapped his tray in half next to me. I put my head in my hands as I knew people were looking at us. I raised my head and met Lydia and Allison's gazes. I frowned and put my head back down again.

We were at the swimming pools when I knew Scott was going to try and steal the necklace. I walked past Allison and Jackson in the water and put my head down.

"Ellie!" Allison called. "Stop avoiding me like the plague," She then added. I stopped and turned to her.

"In fact, stop trying to avoid us both," Jackson added. I met his gaze for a moment, then sighed and sat on the edge of the pool beside them.

"So, the avoiding thing? Why?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Let me guess. The Derek Hale thing and other things on top of that?" Jackson suggested. I met his gaze again as the other thing part and I knew he implied our kiss or makeout session.

I shrugged again.

"Okay, that's it. It was not your fault. It was Scott's. I can't hate him that much as Jackson pointed out so will you just stop avoiding us and spend time with us," Allison said sternly. I nodded and then squealed as Jackson pulled me down into the water, his arms wrapping around my waist so I could hug him. I hugged him back so it didn't look weird to Allison but I knew he could feel the tension in my body. I laughed as he and Allison tried to dunk me but I moved out of their arms and lunged back up on the side of the pool.

"Come on, you two. Before you shrivel up like prunes," I said and stood up. They sighed and got out of the pool too. I handed them towels and then grabbed one for myself. Jackson pulled a towel around Allison and then pulled mine around my shoulders too. I let him put his arm around my shoulder, knowing if I moved away, it would look odd.

I walked into Stiles' room after him and looked around as I felt a warm presence. I saw Derel and raised my eyebrows at him. He just smirked.

"Hey, Stiles! Ellie!" Dad called to us. Stiles turned around and caught sight of Derek.

"Yo, D- Derek, I um-" He got up and went to the door to stop Dad from walking into the room.

"What's you say?" Dad asked as I stood behind Stiles, with Derek in my line of vision.

"What? I said yo Dad," Stiles replied.

"Listen, I've got something to take care of, but I'm gonna be there tonight. I mean, your first game," Dad said to Stiles more than to me.

"My first game," Stiles repeated. "Huh, it's great. Awesome. Uh- good," He added. Dad smiled at him.

"I'm very happy for you. And I'm really proud of you both," He said.

"Thanks. Me too." Stiles said, looking at me.

"What he means is- he's happy and proud of himself- like I am," I translated to Dad.

"So they're really gonna let you play right?" Dad asked Stiles.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm first line. Believe that?" Stiles replied. I caught sight of Derek's expression and refrained from giggling.

"I'm very proud," Dad said again.

"Me too. Again," Stiles said, hugging Dad awkwardly. I hugged Dad too.

"See you both there," He said.

"Take it easy," I said as Stiles dodged back into the room. I turned as a thump sounded behind me and I saw Stiles pressed up against the room. I rolled my eyes at him and Derek.

"If you say one word-" Derek threatened.

"Yeah, like he's going to say "Hey Dad, Derek Hale's in my room- Bring your gun,"," I replied sarcastically.

"Yeah that's right, if I'm harbouring your fugitive ass, it's my house, my rules, buddy," Stiles said to Derek.

"Our house, our rules, Stiles. We're both harbouring the fugitive," I said sternly. Stiles nodded as Derek let go of him, then straightened his shirt. Stiles did the same to Derek.

"Oh my god!" He said as Derek leaned towards him. I giggled as he sat down and I sat down too on the bed.

"Scott didn't get the necklace?" Derek asked us.

"No. He's still working on that," I replied. "But there's something else we can try. The night we were trapped...at the school, Scott sent a text to Allison asking her to meet him there," I said.

"So?" Derek asked me.

"It wasn't Scott who sent the text," I answered.

"Well, can either of you find out who sent it?" Derek asked. I shook my head.

"No, not us. But we think we know somebody who can," Stiles replied.

"You want me to do what?' Danny asked us, looking between us both.

"Trace a text," I repeated. Danny looked at me gobsmacked, then he frowned.

"I came here to do lab work, it's what lab partners do," Danny said to Stiles.

"And we will, once you trace the text," Stiles retorted.

"And what makes you think I know how?" Danny returned. I grinned.

"Stiles looked up your arrest report, so..." I trailed off.

"I- I was thirteen. They dropped the charges," Danny defended himself.

"Whatever," I said, waving my hand.

"No, we're doing lab work," Danny said firmly. I sighed and dropped my head on Stiles' pillow with a groan. I saw Derek smirk from his chair in the corner and I glared at him.

"Who's he, again?" Danny asked, turning to look at Derek.

"Um, our cousin- Miguel," Stiles replied. It was my turn to smirk this time.

"Is that blood on his shirt?" Danny asked. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room, leaving them all to it. I walked into my own room and sat on my bed, closing my eyes and focusing on my powers. I felt the air in the room around me began to shift and I breathed deeply and began to channel my power out through my hands that were raised palm upwards in front of me. Suddenly I felt myself beginning to weaken and I tried to pull back. A knot held me back and then I focused again, restraining myself from panicking like I had done earlier that day and thought about Stiles, Dad, Scott...Derek. Immediately my power retracted and seemed to flow back into my body. I opened my eyes and saw Derek stood in the doorway.

"You're beginning to control it," He commented.

"That was the forts time," I admitted. He nodded once.

"What did you do to retract your magic?" He asked.

"I thought about Stiles, my Dad, Scott...friends..." I trailed off, once again not mentioning the fact that I had thought about Derek.

"Who else?" Derek asked suddenly. I looked at him surprised. "Your heartbeat," He explained. I blushed slightly. "Come on, who else?" He asked again. I blushed even more.

"You," I muttered. Derek looked surprised.

"Me," He muttered to himself. He looked at me again and I coughed, stood up and made my way back into Stiles' room, Derek following me.

"I'll need the ISP, the phone number and the exact time of the text," I heard Danny say and smiled victoriously at Stiles.

Ten minutes later, Danny spoke up again.

"There," I climbed off of the bed and stood behind him and Stiles, whilst Derek stood behind me. "The text was sent from a computer. This one," He added. I leaned forward and then stilled.

"Registered to that account name?" Derek asked.

"No, no, no,no. That cannot be right," Stiles protested.

"Melissa," I breathed softly, sharing a look with Stiles.

I was sat in the jeep with Stiles and Derek. I was driving, whilst Stiles sat in the back. Stiles was holding the phone that was on speak phone out in the middle of us all.

"Did you get the picture?" Scott asked us.

"Yeah, we did and it looks just like the drawing," Stiles replied.

"Hey, is there something on the back of it? There's gotta be something. An inscription, an opening, something," Derek said.

"No, no, the things flat. And no, it doesn't open. There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing. And where are the pair of you? You're both supposed to be here. You're first line Stiles and Riley's looking pissed, Ellie," Scott said. There was a moments silence. "Man, you're not gonna play if you're not here to start," Scott added.

"I know. Look, if you see our Dad, can you tell him- tell him we'll be there. We'll just be a little bit late, okay?" Stiles said.

"And fell Riley it's an emergency or something," I added. "Thanks,"

"You're not going to make it, either of you," Derek stated. I cuffed his arm with a glare.

"We know," I said.

"And you didn't tell him about his mom, either," Derek added.

"Not til we find out the truth," Stiles said.

"By the way, one more thing-" Derek stopped and grabbed Stiles' head, ramming into into the seat in front of him. I winced.

"Oh my god- what the hell was-?" Stiles exclaimed.

"You know what that was for," Derek said firmly. "Go," He added to him. Stiles looked between us and got of the jeep. I watched him go and then turned to Derek.

"Slightly harsh...the whole- smash his head into the hard seat- thing," I commented.

"He deserves it," He replied.

"Hmm sure," I retorted.

"So...I'm your anchor?" Derek spoke again after a few minutes. I shrugged. "Ellie..." I ignored him, not daring to to look at him. Then his hand reached under my chin and turned my head to face him. I closed my eyes. "Hey, open your eyes," He said, in a gentle tone. I didn't and then I felt a slight pressure on my lips. Derek was kissing me. I responded for a moment, then he pulled away. "Now will you open your eyes?" He asked. I opened them to see him wearing an unfamiliar smile on his face.

"Derek..." I murmured. Derek just shook his head leaned forward and kissed me again, longer and deeper. We pulled away as my phone rang. I answered it.

"Stiles, what is it?" I asked.

"I can't find her," He replied.

"What?" I asked as I put my phone onto speakerphone.

"I said, I can't find her," He repeated. I frowned.

"Look, ask for Jennifer." Derek said. "She's been looking after my uncle," He added.

"Yeah, well, he's not here either," Stiles replied. I looked at Derek.

"What?" He asked.

"He's not here. He's gone, Derek," Stiles said. I felt a funny, horrible feeling in my stomach as I pieced together stuff in my head.

"Oh my god..." I whispered, looking up at Derek who held the same expression as me.

"Stiles, get out of there, right now- He's the alpha!" Derek commanded.

"Get out!" I added as I opened the jeep door, hanging up the phone. Derek got out with me.

"Stay here," He told me.

"No, I'm coming in there and you are not telling me otherwise," I replied determinedly. Derek sighed but didn't protest. He just grabbed my hand as we ran into the hospital together.

As we ran into the ward where Stiles was with Jennifer and Peter, Derek knocked Jennifer out, then pulled me into his side.

"That's not nice, she's my nurse," Peter said to Derek.

"She's a psychotic bitch helping you kill people," Derek replied. "Get out of the way," He added to Stiles. I grabbed Stiles' hand and pulled him to me.

"Oh damn," Stiles muttered to me.

"You think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family? My mind, my personality were literally burned out of me. I was being driven by pure instinct," Peter said, his eyes flickering to me. I took a step back as they began fighting. I saw Peter holding Derek by the throat and dragging him on the floor. I felt my power begin to swirl as I focused on it. Stiles looked at me and I looked back to him.

"You want forgiveness?" Derek asked as he stood up and punched him. I lost control of my powers and they faded again.

"I want understanding," Peter replied, kicking Derek along the floor.

"Stiles, go to the jeep," I muttered to him.

"Ellie- I'm not leaving-" stiles started.

"Go." I said firmly and he nodded. I ran and knelt beside Derek, helping him up.

"Do you have any idea- what it was like for me during those years? Slowly healing, feel by cell. Even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Yes, becoming an Alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me move a plateau in the healing process. I can't help that." Peter was literally feet away from us now. Derek pushed me gently away from him as he went to attack him again. "I tired to tell you what was happening. I tried to warn you," Peter said, throwing him into a glass wall.

"On my- Derek," I breathed. Peter looked at me and I turned and fled. I heard him following me in a slow walking pace. I couldn't see where Derek had gone and when I turned a corner, I couldn't see where Peter had gone either. But I could hear his voice.

"I was going to wait, for dramatic flair- but- when you look this good, why wait?" I heard him say. "Derek. You have to give me a chance to explain, we're family, afterall," He added. I breathed shallowly and leaned against the wall, not daring to move.


	10. Chapter 10: Co-Captain

I got Into the jeep, panting hard.

"Stiles, just go!" I said.

"What? Where's Derek?" Stiles asked.

"Go! He's freaking trusting Peter! Just go!" I cried and Stiles pushed his foot down on the gas pedal hard. I put my head in my hands and willed myself not to cry. Why had I trusted him? Kissed him?

"Ellie. What is it?" Stiles asked. I looked up.

"I think he knows what I am. I think I'm first on Peter's hit list," I replied.

"Oh god," Stiles' reply was terrified.

We ran into the locker rooms and found Scott sitting there in the dark.

"Dude, we have a huge problem," Stiles said as I leaned on the locker beside me.

"Trust me- I know," Scott replied, looking up at us. I breathed out slowly.

"Crap, they came here," I said softly. I sank down onto the ground. Both of them looked at me, Scott looked at me closely.

"You looked terrified. In fact, you are terrified," He said. I looked at Stiles.

"Scott, Peter knows what I am...I think I'm going to be his first victim," I replied slowly. Scott then looked petrified himself in turn.

I pulled the jeep up in front of Chris and Jackson.

"What's up?" Scott said to Jackson.

"Is everything okay?" I asked with a fake smile.

"Hey, Scott, Ellie." Chris greeted us. "Your friend here, was having car trouble. We're just taking a look," He added.

"There's a shop down the street. I'm sure they have a two truck," Scott said.

"Yeah, you want a ride?" Stiles asked. I smiled even more at Jackson.

"Hey, come on, Jackson, you're way too pretty to be out here all by yourself," I added. As Scott climbed out and Jackson walked over to us, I saw Chris do something with the engine of Jackson's car and then move away.

"Hey boys...and girl," Chris said as he turned the ignition. Jackson's car started. "Told you I knew a few things about cars," He said. He then walked back to his own car and drove away. I watched him go and breathed out deeply.

"What? Are you following me?" Jackson asked us.

"Yes," I stated. "You stupid freaking idiot. You almost gave everything away, right there," I added.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson asked me.

"He thinks you're the second beta," Scott replied.

"What?"

"He thinks your me!" Scott shouted, then hit the door of the jeep.

"Dude, my jeep," Stiels complained as he climbed out, me following him.

"I can hear your heart beating from a mile away- literally!" Scott exclaimed.

"Not to mention I could sense your discomfort and fear too," I muttered. Jackson looked at me in shock. "Before you ask, no I'm not a bloody werewolf. I'm a witch, Druid...whatever the hell you want to call it," I added.

"Now he thinks that these something wrong, and now I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!" Scott said, getting worked up. He turned back to the jeep and Stiles pulled him away.

"Okay, how about we step away from Stiles' jeep," Stiles said.

"This is your problem, not mine, okay?" Jackson returned. "I didn't say anything which means you're the one that's gonna get me killed. Okay, this is your fault," He pushed Scott into the jeep.

"Can we stop hitting my jeep?" Stiles asked. Scott pushed Jackson and then I stepped between them.

"Don't you dare think about having a fight, the either of you," I warned.

"When they come after you, I won't be able to protect you. I can't protect anyone," Scott said. Jackson looked to me and Stiles.

"Why are you looking at me?" Stiles asked.

"Jackson...I have no control over my powers. Trying to protect anyone could end up in me killing them instead," I said.

"You know, now you have to do it. Get me what I want, and I will be fine protecting myself," Jackson said after a few seconds.

"No, you won't!" Scott protested. "Just trust me. All it does is make things worse," He added.

"Oh, yeah, really?" Jackson replied. "You can hear anything you want and run faster than humanly possible. Sounds like a real hardship, McCall,"

"Yeah I can run really fast now- except half the time, I'm running away from people trying to kill me! And I can hear things like- like my girlfriend telling people that she doesn't trust me anymore right before breaking up with me. I'm not lying to you- it ruins your life," Scott said.

"It ruined your life. You had all the power in the world and you didn't know what to do with it. You know what it's actually like? It's like you turned sixteen and someone brought you a Porsche when they should have started you out with a nice little Honda. Me? I drive a Porsche," Jackson retorted before walking away and driving off in his car. I turned and punched the jeep too.

I walked into the kitchen with Stiles and frowned as he pulled out the milk and drank from it. I stopped as I saw Dad in the dining room, sheets of paper all over the desk.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked him.

"Work," He replied.

"Anything we can help with?" Stiles asked.

"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, that would be awfully nice," Dad replied. Stiles disappeared and returned with a whiskey bottle and a glass.

"Any leads?" I asked as I sat down opposite him.

'You know I can't discuss that with you," He said, then added to Stiles "Not too much,"

"There you go," Stiles replied.

"Thanks," Dad replied. I saw how much he'd poured him and frowned, then looked at Stiles with raised eyebrows. Surely, Stiles wasn't going to get Dad drunk was he to get information?

As Dad drank the whole glass, I rolled my eyes.

"You know, Derek Hale would be a whole hale of a lot- Hale of a lot?" Dad was slurring slightly. I rolled my eyes again.

"Hell of a lot?" I countered helpfully.

"Hell. Yes, he would be a hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him," Dad said.

"How do you not have a picture of him?" I asked.

"It's the weirdest thing. It's like every time we tried to get a mug shot, it's like two laser beams were out into the camera," Dad explained.

"Nice," Stiles commented.

"Oh my god, oh my god- that ounce hit me like a brick. And I have said way too much, and if you repeat any of that-"

"Dad- it's us. We're not gonna say anything. Come on," I said. Dad sighed.

"See the thing is they're all connected. I mean, the bus driver that got killed, he was an insurance insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire," He began to explain to us.

"'Terminated under suspicion of fraud,'" Stiles read out from one of the reports. I frowned to myself.

"Exactly," Dad agreed with Stiles.

"Who else?" I asked.

"The video store clerk who got his throat slashed- he's a convicted felon, history of arson," Dad said. Suddenly it began to click. Peter was methodical in his actions. Those who he blamed for the fire. He wasn't after me, at all. I wrote it down on a spare notepad whilst Dad want looking and passed it to Stiles. Stiles read it and look relieved. I remembered something.

"What about the other two guys, the guys who got killed in the woods?" I asked. Dad looked at me.

"Prior all over their records including-" I cut Dad off.

"Arson," I said with a look to Stiles.

"So maybe they all had something to do with the fire. Another shot?" He then asked. I looked at him disbelievingly.

"No. No, no,no, no more," Dad protested.

"Dad, come on. You work really hard, all right? You deserve it," Stiles encouraged. I raised my eyebrows as I saw Dad caving in.

"Oh, my god, I'm gonna have such a hangover," He said.

"You mean you're gonna have such a good night's sleep." Stiles said. I turned to him.

"And you, dear brother, are gonna have an eternity in the lowest circle of hell," I muttered to him, causing Stiles to smirk at me in response.

"Guys, there are so many questions," Dad said a while later, now completely drunk.

"Like what?" Stiles asked.

"Like if Derek- wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire. Then why start with his sister? I mean, she had nothing to do with it. Why make it look like some kind of animal did it?" I began to fee like we were treading on dangerous territory. "When that cougar ended up in the parking lot- I checked with animal control. You know the instances of wild animal reports were up seventy percent over the past few months? It's like they're just going crazy, running out of the woods. I don't know," He finished.

"Or something's scaring them out," I murmured.

"You know, I miss talking to you two. It's like we never have time-" I shot him an apologetic look.

"Dad, you know, Ellie and I have to make a phone call- I'm sorry. We'll be right back," Stiles said.

We got up and began to move away.

"I do...and I miss your mom," Dad murmured. I stopped dead still and turned to face him.

"What?" I asked softly. He just ignored me and went to pour another shot. I reached over and stopped him from doing so, wrapping my fingers around his hand gently.

"Thanks," Dad murmured to me softly. I just looked at him, feeling tears beginning to well. I felt Stiles take my other hand, squeezing it tightly.

I was watching Dad when Stiles called me. He'd gone and followed Melissa and Peter who were going on a date on the request of Scott. I'd stayed home to watch Dad.

"Elles, Derek's gone after Jackson...I'm sort of stuck here with Melissa and Peter," He said.

"What did you- Never mind, I'll go," I replied.

"You sure? Derek could attack-"

"Derek won't harm me and if he does...I'm pretty sure either Jackson or my powers will come into use," I finished. "I'll speak to you in a while," I added and hung up the phone. I grabbed my jacket and walked outside to our garage. I turned on the light and looked at my mini that was in the corner of the garage. I rarely drove it after a near accident last year I'm it that made me still creeped out by the convertible roof and power steering. Or lack of on the latter part. I sighed and grabbed my keys, unlocking it and climbing in. I started the engine, checked it had enough gas and then I drove it out of the garage. As I drove to the centre of town, I thought out loud to myself.

"Okay, so where would Jackson be?..." I trailed off as the answer came to me. "Brilliant," I muttered and pressed my foot down on the gas pedal, still not used to the power it had compared to the older jeep that was technically Stiles'.

I could only go so far into the woods before my car would get stuck or I would alert Derek to my presence. I got out of the car, locked it and then turned on my flashlight I had brought with me. I looked around the woods and shivered slightly. I sighed as I realised I was very frightened. I headed in the direction to the Hale household.

I heard a crack behind me and turned suddenly. Nothing was there or not that I could see anyway. I suddenly felt a rushing behind my eyes and saw a different place. The Hale house with Derek and Jackson, then Peter and Scott. I closed my eyes and opened them again to see the forest in front of me. I'd just had a vision of sorts.

I finally reached the Hale house and I ran up the steps and into the house itself.

"Jackson?" I called out. "Jackson?" I called out again.

"Ellie!" I heard Jackson's voice that sounded terrified. I ran around the staircase and saw Derek stood over Jackson, his claws and teeth emerging.

"Stop!" I shouted. Both turned to look at me. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked Derek.

"I don't deserve this," Jackson whimpered.

"I think you do," Derek bit out, ignoring me.

"No-no!" Jackson cried out.

"Derek! Stop it!" I shouted.

Look around you!" Derek shouted. "Wouldn't there be someone else other than Ellie, who is useless, trying to save you? There's no one here. There is a reason. No one cares that you drive an expensive car. No one cares that you have a perfect hair, and no one cares that you're captain of the lacrosse team," Derek shouted. It stung what Derek had said about me and I knew it had shown across my face.

"Excuse me Co- Captain," Scott's voice came from the staircase and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw him. Scott wolfed out and jumped between Derek and Jackson. He turned to look at Jackson who looked utterly terrified.

"Move!" Derek commanded to Scott.

"No," Scott refused. I moved around them and ran to Jackson. He gripped my arms tightly.

"Fine. I'll kill you too," Derek growled. Suddenly an arrow came flying through the window and flashed a bright light. Jackson covered over me in an protective instinct. I pushed him away.

"Go, my car's out there somewhere. It's the mini," I told him. He nodded and ran. I saw Scott had been hit and creeped around to kneel over him. "Scott?" I looked at a still wolfed out Derek and met his eyes, then looked away.

"Scott! Ellie! Go!" Derek shouted to us as bullets rained down on us once again. I tried to pull him up but couldn't.

"Scott come on," I muttered. Suddenly I felt an arm around him and me. I saw it was Derek, helping him up and then Scott was running. I turned to Derek. He surprised me by kissing my lips slightly before pushing me away. I tried to follow Scott but couldn't see him in the dark.

"Oh no," I stopped and looked around me. "Scott?" I called out softly. I then saw him lying on the floor unconscious. "Oh my- god...Scott? Scott!" I cried, shaking him but he wouldn't wake up. "No... I am not losing you," I added. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I screamed, but a hand cut me off. I saw Deaton's expression.

"They may be able to hear us still," He said to me. I nodded and he took his hand away from my mouth. "I can help him," He added, leaning down and picking him up and carrying him. I followed besides him.

"Erm...aren't you a vet?" I asked, wiping my tears away.

I watched as Deaton sewed up Scott's stomach. I sat in the corner of the consulting room,curled up on the seat.

"Did you see Derek get out of the house?" I asked him softly. He looked up at me.

"I didn't see much at all, Ellie," He replied. I arched as he mixed something together and then I put it all together.

"You're a Druid, aren't you?" I asked him. I saw him smile and he looked up at me.

"So are you," He said. I looked shocked.

"How did...?" I trailed off.

"I can sense you. You're incredibly new but your power is there and it's strong," He said. I nodded and then moved forward as Scott woke up, gasping.

"It's all right, Scott, You're gonna be all right," I said with a smile. He went to get up.

"I wouldn't get up just yet," Deatom advised him.

"Where am I-" He asked.

"You're fine. And I've given you something that should- sped up the healing process," Deaton explained.

"But you're a vet," Scott stated. I smiled and Deaton just shook his head at me. I nodded in understanding.

"That's very true," Deaton said to Scott. "And ninety percent of the time, I'm mostly treating cats and dogs," He added.

"Mostly?" Scott asked.

"Mostly," Deaton repeated with a shrug.


	11. Chapter 11: Formality

I was still sat in the corner chair, waiting for Scott to wake up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Deaton stood over me with a cup of tea.

"It's uh, a special recipe...might calm you down," He looked up to the overhead light on Scott and it was only then I noticed it was flickering off and on.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't...it's... I trailed off to order my thoughts and speech as I took the tea off of him.

"It's alright. Your powers are emotion triggered," He stated as he began to order his instruments and room. "And you're upset," He added. I sipped the sweet tea and felt calm immediately and the lights stopped flickering.

"I think I need that recipe," I murmured. Deaton chuckled.

"I'll give it to you," He replied. At that moment, Scott woke up, sat up and stood within seconds. "Welcome back to the land of the conciois. You doing okay?" He said to him. Scott lookiked dizzy and I stood up and grabbed his arm.

"Maybe you should sit down! huh?" I said to him. Suddenly the doorbell rang from the front of the clinic. Deaton went to walk, but Scott grabbed him back. I knew immediately it was someone he didn't trust. Deaton walked through anyway.

"I'm sorry but we're- we're closed," I heard Deaton say.

"Hi there," Peter's voice shifted through to us. "I'm here to pick up," He added. I looked at Scott and gripped his hand tightly.

"I'm not sure I remember you dropping off," Deaton replied.

"These two wandered in on their own," Peter replied.

"Both of us?" Scott mouthed to me. I shrugged softly.

"Even if they did, I'm afraid I can't help you- We're closed," Deaton said firmly.

"Well, I think you can make an exception this one time- Don't you?" Peter said. Scott pulled me backwards slightly.

"I'm sorry. That's not going to be possible. Maybe you could come back during regular hours,"

"You have something of mine. I'm here to collect it," Peter said threatingly. I looked worriedly at Scott.

"Like I said- we're closed," Deaton retorted. There was a moment of silence, then Peter spoke.

"Mountain ash, that's an old one," He commented. There was a crash.

"Let me be as clear as possible. We-Are-Closed," Deaton said slowly.

"There are others who can help me get what I want, Scott, Ellie. More innocent- and far more vulnerable," Peter said loudly. I turned to Scott.

"Stiles," I said quietly as he said "Allison," I heard the sound of Peter leaving and I paused momentarily before moving to grab my cell phone to call Stiles.

We were in Scott's room, looking for Scott's phone whilst Stiles watched us.

"Call it again," I told him as I moved.

"It's not here. Okay, so you lost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?" Stiles replied.

"I can't afford a new one. And I can't do this alone." Scott replied as he moved about.

"We have to find Derek," I said. Both of them looked towards me.

"Well, A, you're not alone. You have us two and B, didn't you both say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead," Stiles said.

"He is not dead!" I shouted, throwing a shoe at the wall and watching as it took a flake of plaster with it to the floor. Both of them looked at me in shock.

"Something happened last night," Stiles decided. I turned and ignored him. "Tell. Now," He demanded.

"Why should I, Stiles?" I asked him snarkily.

"Because I spent half the night worrying what had happened to my sister," Stiles snapped back. I breathed deeply.

"We kissed okay. We kissed the night before that as well. Before he decided to trust the psycho of his uncle," I said.

"He kissed you when he was wolfed out?" Scott asked shocked. I nodded. "How did he not attack you?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Anyway, Argent's plan was to use him to find the Alpha. They're not gonna kill him," I added.

"All right, so then just let them do what they're planning, you know? They use Derek to get Peter- problem solved," Stiles said. I scoffed.

"You think they're going to just let Derek run free after that?" I asked him. "Anyway, Peter's going to go after you, Allison, Dad to find Derek...We can't protect everyone...which means we have to find Derek first," I said.

"You know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting. You remember that, when he was trying to kill the pair of you after you both interrupted him trying to kill Jackson? Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behaviour here?" Stiles asked.

"He wasn't going to kill anyone." Scott said.

"And I'm not letting him die," I added.

"Could you at least think about letting him die? For me?" Stiles asked. I shot him a dirty look with death written all over it. Stiles shrank away from me. "What?" He then asked Scott.

"My mom just got home from work," Scott replied. I looked out the window and saw her there. I saw Scott looking worse and worse by the second.

"Is she okay?" Stiles asked. "What's she doing?' He added.

"Crying," Scott replied gently. I looked out the window and then back to Scott, thinking about what Dad had said last night before everything had happened.

"Scott you can't protect everyone," Stiles said gently. I turned away from the window.

"He can't, but we can," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently. "And we have to, Stiles," I added.

Later that night, I lay in bed, my eyes closed as I had vision after vision of Derek being tortured. To know this was happening right now or was going to happen or had even happened, had scared me badly enough to keep me up for most of the night in a scrunched up position as the moonlight floated through the window to me.

I was trying on two of my dresses that I'd brought for formal in my bedroom. Stiles had gone shopping with Lydia and Allison. For some reason that I couldn't explain... I had feigned a headache and drove home in my mini that was now a permanent appearance. I looked in my mirror at my blue dress and jumped as I saw Peter stood behind me. I turned around.

"Get out," I told him sharply. He just stepped forward with a smile.

"Relax, Ellie. I'm not going to hurt you...I think my nephew would hate me and try to kill me if I did," He replied, hands up in surrender.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"That's where I need your help," He replied. I looked at him, studying him for a moment. Then I nodded.

"Okay, okay." I said. He smiled. "Can you go into into my bathroom or closet or something whilst I get changed?" I then asked. He nodded and walked into my closet, pulling the door shut behind him.

"By the way...that one suits your eyes," He said before he closed them fully. I looked bus,c in the mirror and shook my head, wondering what the hell I had just done and why it felt like I'd sold my soul to the devil.

I had just changed when I felt a vision come on and I fell forward in pain. I must have cried out as in the next second, Peter was kneeling down by me, his hand on my back. I focused on the images swirling around my mind and then I was back in the room with tears falling down my cheeks.

"Ellie?" Peter asked gently.

"They're just images of Derek being tortured. I'm only seeing him, his face...this one hurt though." I replied, leaning against him slightly.

"Like you could feel his pain?" Peter asked. I just shrugged, then I saw the confusion on his face clearing.

"What is it? What?" I asked him. He just shook his head firmly. I moved to stand up and he helped me.

"You okay? Not dizzy?" He asked me. I shook my head. "So, who's your date to Formal?" He asked. I shot him a look.

"How did you...Right, Allison," I said. I turned away from him.

"Come on...who are you going to Formal with?" He asked.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked him.

"I'm interested in the members of my pack," He replied. I turned to him, shocked.

"I'm not...I'm not a werewolf. I'm not your pack," I said. Peter just smiled.

"You really know nothing of Druid's do you?" He asked before leaving through the window of my room. I stared after him, feeling confused and slightly frightened because it became clear to me. Peter didn't want me just to help him. He wanted me in his pack too. Just like Scott.

As I heard Scott and his Mom talking, I walked upstairs. I rounded the corner and decided to announce my presence.

"You're not going stag, Scott," I said, making them both jump and look at me. "Because I just so happen to not have a date- anymore," I added. Scott looked at his Mom, then at me.

"You mean?" He said. I nodded.

"As friends. Just friends. Because I so don't see you that way," I added. Melissa smiled. "And also, I didn't want to see you go alone," Scott smiled at me softly. "Come on, get your girl, McCall," I added.

"Apparently, she knows how he feels," Melissa told me. I looked at her and then looked at Scott.

"Oh she does, does she?" I asked. "Little tip, Scott. Coming from your mother and I. Women love words," Melissa nodded in agreement.

"Huh?"

"You need to tell her how you feel, just say it. Say it again. Say it differently. Learn how to say it better. Learn how to sing it." Melissa said. "You know, just write it in a poem and a letter attached to flowers, carve it in a tree, in a sidewalk with cement- tattoo on your arm," She finished.

"Really?" Scott looked happy at the last one.

"No, not really." I said. "Just- tell her the truth. Tell her- anything and everything. You want," I said. Scott looked at with knowingly.

"Everything?" He asked.

"Everything," I confirmed.

"But when you do, I'd keep that buttoned," Melissa added. "Here you go,"

As we walked down the stairs, I threw Scott my car keys.

"The mini?" He asked.

"I'm fine with it now. Must be the witchy powers," I said with a smile and he smiled back.

We pulled up outside of school, seeing Lydia, Stiles, Allison and Jackson all stood there. I heard Scott breathe deeply and I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"We'll be okay. We all will," I said and then he climbed out of the car, causing everyone to looked at him. He came around the door and opened mine. I stepped out and saw Lydia and Allison look at me confused, as did Stiles and Jackson. I gave Scott a smile.

"You really do look beautiful, you know," He said to me.

"And you really do look handsome," I replied. "Come on, we'll go in the other entrance," I said to him and with a winning smile to everyone, we walked off around the side of the school, holding hands tightly.

Scott was hiding away from Coach as I was sat with him. Suddenly he nudged me and I turned to see Peter, looking straight at us.

"Crap," I muttered. "Scott, I'll be right back," I murmured.

"Ellie- be careful," He replied. I nodded and walked off. I saw Lydia leading Stiles onto the dance floor and I smiled fondly at them. I walked around, looking for Peter to pop up on me unexpectedly. I then saw Scott being chased by Coach and pushed my way through the crowd to get to him first. I saw Scott dancing with Danny and laughed and sighed at the same time. I pulled Scott away from Danny and kissed him deeply, his reaction behind shocked.

"Just go with it," I whispered. Scott nodded and began to kiss me back, so we began to also create attention.

"What the hell are you doing?" I heard Coach ask and we broke off, turning to look at him simultaneously.

"He's my date, Coach. And I really wanted him to come here tonight so I persuaded him...please, you're really going to leave me dateless?" I said, fluttering my eyelashes slightly and pretending to look upset. Coach looked confused.

"Just...just carry on, just dance, everybody! Just dance! Dance! It's a party!" Coach called out. I turned to look at Scott, then over his shoulder at Stiles, Lydia, Jackson and Allison, who were all looking confused and on Stiles' part, murderous.

"Go and ask her to dance," I said to him, then kissed his cheek, pushing him in Allison's direction. I turned to Danny who sighed and held out his arm for me.

"Want to dance?" He asked. I nodded my head and let him pull me in to him.

I saw Jackson disappear a moment later and I pulled away from Danny.

"I need some fresh air, I'll be back in a moment," I said to him and he nodded as I ran out of the gym and to the parking lot. I looked around and went into the woods.

"Unfortunately Jackson, I don't think I can give you what you want. But I have a feeling you might be able to help me," I heard Chris Argent say. I pressed myself against a tree and listened as Jackson told him everything. About Scott, about me, about Derek. I moved and walked as quietly as I could to the parking lot, kneeling down behind one of the cars as I saw them emerging from the woods.

"You promise you won't hurt them," Jackson said.

"Of course not, they're just kids," Chris said in response.

"What are you gonna do?" Jackson asked.

"I'm going to take care of it," Chris replied. "Now, go back to the dance. Jackson. Be with your friends. Be a normal teenager," He instructed. I felt tears falling as I realised what this meant. Chris was going to kill Scott and myself. I heard Lydia calling for Jackson and I moved and went to find her. She went out to the lacrosse pitch.

"Lydia?" I called. She turned and look relieved to see me.

"Have you seen Jackson?" She asked.

"Yeah, he headed back into school," I replied. Lydia nodded and went to walk towards me when the floodlights came on around us. I looked around and saw Peter walking towards us.

"Oh- my god," I whispered. "Lydia run!" I added.

"Lydia, Ellie, run!" Stiles screamed, running towards us. I turned back to see Peter on us, baring his teeth. He pushed me out of the way as he bit Lydia. I screamed as she fell unconsious.

"Don't kill her, please," I pleaded. Stiles knelt beside me and helped me up in a sitting position, checking my body for any wounds or bite marks. He went to go to Lydia but Peter was over, growling at us.

"Of course not. Just tell me how to find Derek," He replied.

"W-what?" Stiles asked.

"Tell me how to find Derek Hale," Peter said.

"I don't know that, how would I know that?" Stiles asked.

"Because he tried me earlier, Stiles," I replied softly. "I've been seeing visions of Derek since yesterday and all I'm seeing is him being tortured," I admitted.

"You're the clever one, aren't you? And because deception has a particularly acrid scent. Stiles. Tell me the truth- or I will rip her apart and then move onto your sister," Peter said.

"Look- look, I don't know, okay? I sw- swear to god I have no idea," Stiles replied.

"Tell me!" Peter shouted, his alpha coming through.

"Okay, okay, okay look- I- think h knew-" Stiles stammered.

"Knew what?" Peter asked.

"Derek. I think he- I think he knew he was gonna be caught," Stiles answered.

"By the Argent's?" Peter asked.

"Yeah,"

"And?"

"When they were shot, he and Scott- I think he took Scott's phone and gave a warning to Ellie when he kissed her," Stiles said. Peter looked at me.

"Why?" He asked.

"They all have GPS now, so if he still has it and it's still on- you can find him," Stiles explained.

Suddenly I had a bad feeling and I began to got up.

"Scott." I murmured. Stiles looked at me, then Peter.

"Go," Peter said to me. I nodded and began to run as I followed my instinct. I ran to the buses and saw Scott wolfed out, Chris Argent and the hunters and Allison.

"Oh my- god," I murmured. Scott turned and saw me. All eyes were then on me.


	12. Chapter 12: Codebreaker

I stayed standing there.

"Scott! Get out of here!" I screamed as I concentrated and cut the engines of the car sand caused the horn to blare on Chris Argent's car. Scott jumped and disappeared. I looked at Allison and then Chris and began to run too, blindly, knowing if they followed me, I couldn't go back to the lacrosse pitch. I saw they weren't and then I cut a short cut and came out on the lacrosse pitch again.

"Ellie?" Stiles asked.

"He's- he's fine," I panted. I knelt by Lydia.

"Ellie- Jackson's on his way. We have to go!" Stiles said.

"I'm not. Leaving. Her," I said, tears falling.

"There are hunters after us. We have to go and get Derek," Peter said firmly. I looked up at him and saw pity run through his eyes.

"Come on," Stiles said softly, pulling me up and pulling me after Peter who was walking away. I turned and looked back at her, lying there, causing me to sob into Stiles. We climbed into the jeep and I was still shaking, Stiles' back around my shoulders as we began driving.

"Don't feel bad. If she lives, she'll become a werewolf. She'll become incredibly powerful," Peter said to us.

"Yeah and once a month, she'll go out of her freaking mind and try to tear us to pieces," Stiles replied.

"Well, actually, considering that she's a woman- twice a month," Peter quipped. I glared at him as tears fell and he turned and sighed, wiping them away with his hand.

We climbed out of the jeep and Peter headed of another car.

"Whose car is this?" Stiles asked.

"It belonged to my nurse," Peter replied, unlocking it.

"What happened to your-"

"Oh my god!" My cry as the trunk of the car opened and Peter's nurse lay inside dead covered Stiles' second question.

"I got better," Peter stated. I looked at Stiles and he looked back at me, equally as frightened.

"Good luck getting a signal down here." Stiles commented. "Oh MiFi," He added. I leant against the car, not looking at him. Just thinking about Scott, Allison, Jackson, Lydia...suddenly Peter was in front of me, his eyes on Stiles.

"I can be very persuasive, Stiles. Don't make me persuade you," He said, effectively trapping me against the car and tilting my head to the side. I just let him and then I felt him look at me strangely and he backed off as Stiles looked between us.

"What happens after you find Derek?" Stiles asked.

"Don't think, just type, Stiles," Peter replied as he walked back to him, his gaze flickering to me after a second.

"You're going to kill people, aren't you?" I asked silently. It was the first time I'd spoken in forty five minutes.

"Only the responsible ones," Peter said. I breathed deeply.

"Look, if I do this, you have to promise to leave Scott and my sister out of this," Stiles said.

"Do you know why wolves hunt in packs?" Peter asked. "It's because their favourite prey are too large to be brought down by one wolf alone. I need Derek and Scott. I also need Ellie. I need all three of them," He explained.

"Why my sister? She's not gonna help you," Stiles said.

"I already agreed too," I said softly. Stiles looked at me, shocked and confused.

"Scott will too. Because it'll save Allison. And you will, because it will save Scott and your sister. Think about it. You know Scott's password and username because you know him so well. Ellie knows Scott's password and username too. And vice versa." Peter paused. "His username is Allison? His password is also Allison?" He then asked.

"Still want him in your pack?" Stiles asked sarcastically. Peter turned away from him, rolling his eyes. I found myself smiling slightly. "Wait what the- that's where they're keeping him? His own house?" Stiles said. I walked around to him quickly, slotting between Peter and Stiles. I looked at the computer in shock.

"Not at it. Under it," Peter replied. I know exactly where that is," Suddenly I heard a howl, as odd Stiles and Peter. I looked towards it and felt hope rising. "And I'm not the only one," I added. I then heard a reply howl. "Give me your keys," He said to Stiles. Stiles handed then over.

"Careful. She grinds in second," He replied. Peter handed him something. "So you're not gonna kill me? Or Ellie?" He asked. Peter turned to him. "Oh god," He muttered.

"Don't you understand yet? I'm not the bad guy here," Peter said.

"You turn into a giant monster with red eyes and fangs. And you're not the bad guy," Stiles responded.

"I like you Stiles. Since you've helped me, I'm going to give you something in return. Do you want the bite?" Peter asked.

"What?" I asked him.

"Do you want the bite? If it doesn't kill you- and it could- you'll become like us," Peter said.

"Like you," I said.

"Yes, a werewolf. Would you like me to draw you a picture? That first night in the woods, I took Scott because I needed a new pack. It could've easily been you. You'd be every bit as powerful as him. No more standing by his side, watching him and your sister become stronger, more popular, watching him get the girl. You'd be equals. Maybe more. Yes or no?" He said. I looked at Stiles.

"I don't wanna be like you," Stiles decided.

"Do you know what I heard just then? Your heart beating slightly faster over the words "I don't want,". You may believe you're telling me the truth, but you are lying to yourself. Goodbye Stiles," He said. I turned to Stiles.

"I have to go with him," I said. He nodded.

"I know," He replied.

"I love you," I said and hugged him tightly.

"Love you too, sis," He replied as I walked away and climbed into the jeep besides Peter. We drove off.

"Please tell me you can run or fight in those heels," Peter said to me. I looked down at my wedges.

"Yes I can," I replied. I leant forward and pulled the gun I had hidden under the front of the jeep and pulled it up. "I can also shoot this, if necessary," I added. Peter looked at me. "I'm the Sheriff's daughter," I said. He nodded as I put the ammunition into the gun and it clicked. We drove around the back of the Hale house and climbed out. We crept to the front drool and I saw Peter change then run out. I followed him as everyone turned around to look after him.

Allison and Scott turned to look at me.

"Ellie?" Allison asked. Kate turned and pointed her gun at me but I knocked it out of her hand with a slight use of power.

"Don't be stupid. I'm a Druid." I told her. Then I pointed my gun at Peter. "And if you really thought I was going to trust you," I added. Peter looked at me with a calculating expression as he walked closer to Kate. Suddenly I was knocked down and then Kate was being dragged into the house.

"No!" Allison shouted, running after her. I got up and ran after her too.

"She is beautiful Kate. She looks like you. Probably not as damaged. So I'm going to give you a chance to save her." I took Allison's hand in my own. "Apologise. Say that you're sorry for decimating my family. For leaving me burned and broken for six years. Say it- and I'll let her live," Peter said, his eyes on us.

"I'm sorry," Kate said her eyes on us. Her gaze met mine and an understanding ran through me. I nodded a fraction. Peter ripped her throat out. Allison and I both screamed.

"I don't know about you, Allison, but that apology- didn't sound very sincere," Peter said. I pushed Allison behind me and threw Peter back against the wall.

"Run!" I told her as Peter stalked towards us. Suddenly I heard a growl from beside me and I looked to see Scott wolfed out. I looked the other side and saw Derek too. I turned to Allison fully. "Go." I told her. "Because I'm not fully sure whether they're going to attack us or him," I added.

"Run!" Derek and Scott told us together. I pushed Allison and made her run out, then stopped. Peter said I was part of their pack. Part of their pack. I saw Allison turn to me and I shook my head at her.

"Go to your Dad and get out of here," I said. She ran and I turned back. I ran to the doorway of the room and Peter was changing fully. I saw Derek lying unconscious behind him. He stalked towards us and I saw Scott look at me with panic in his eyes. I went to throw him back with my magic, but he grabbed us both and sent us flying back through the window of the Hale house and out onto the ground outside. I felt pain shoot through my body and I lifted my head to see Allison looking at us in horror, sitting over her Dad who was unconscious still. Peter came out of the house after us and picked both Scott and I up in his hands, lifting our feet off of the ground. I sent a pulse of power to him and made him drop me, then Scott kicked him and sent him flying back into the decking of the Hale house. Suddenly Jackson's Porsche stopped metres from me and then Stiles and Jackson got out, Stiles throwing a Molotov cocktail at Peter. Peter caught it.

"Oh damn," Stiles muttered. I looked across at the floor and saw Allison's bow and arrow by my feet. I picked them up and stood up.

"Allison!" I shouted and threw them to her. She stood up and shot an arrow, straight into the Molotov cocktail, causing it to explode and set Peter's arm on fire. Suddenly Jackson throw another cocktail and it set Peter completely on fire. Suddenly I saw Peter was going for Allison and I flung out my arms.

"No!" I shouted and it threw Peter back completely against a tree where he fell and hit the ground, crawling away from us. He was changing back into human form. His eyes met mine and then he fell onto his back. I fell to my knees, completely exhausted. I turned to look at Scott and met his eyes, breathing deeply. Allison walked over to him and knelt down beside him, causing Scott to look at her. He went to turn his face away, but she stopped him from doing so. As she kissed him, he changed back into human and I smiled softly. I saw Derek coming out of the house, walking towards Peter and I followed him.

"Stay there," He told me.

"No," I said. Derek turned to look at me. I reached forwards and linked our hands together. "I think we need to have a talk about some things, Derek Hale," I said softly and he looked down at my hands and then back up to my face. He stepped forwards and kissed me softly, causing me to smile. He stepped away and turned to Peter again. I watched as he knelt over him and then Scott was beside me.

"Wait!" Scott said. "You said the cure comes from the one who bit you? Derek, if you do this, I'm dead. Her father, her family- what am I supposed to do?" He said to him. I walked forwards too.

"Derek, you have to let him do this," I said softly.

"You've- already- decided. I can smell it on you!" Peter spoke.

"Derek, you do this - you don't give him a chance. I can't change what I am, but maybe Scott can," I said.

"Listen- to- your- mate," Peter spoke again. Scott looked at me and I turned and looked at everyone else. I saw Stiles' expression and turned back quickly.

"Ellie- look away," Derek spoke as his hand raised up, claws out. I stepped back but didn't turn away.

"Wait, no, no! Don't!" Scott yelled as Derek's hand came down and slit Peter's throat. I breathed softly. I stepped forward again as Derek stood up and turned around to face us. His eyes were red.

"Oh-" I breathed.

"I'm the Alpha now," He stated, his voice coming out. His eyes were on me. I tilted my head to the side and stepped forward even more, coming to stand on one side of Peter's still leg. I took Derek's hand and saw his claws retract. Then with my other hand I slapped him. It turned his head with the power of it.

"You're an idiot," I stated, his face in shock as he turned to look at me again. "But you're my mate." I added as I kissed him again, letting his arm comes around my waist tightly, everyone's' eyes still on us.

We crept into Lydia's room, hours after the fight.

"Shut the door," Scott told Stiles. Stiles did so but the door creaked loudly.

"Oh god," I muttered.

"Don't you 'oh god' me...you're the one snogging Derek Hale," Stiles hissed at me as he closed the door fully. I shot him a look as I stood up carefully. I lifted up Lydia's gown and then looked at the wound with Scott.

"Is it completely healed?" Stiles asked, not looking at Lydia. I rolled my eyes.

"No, not at all," Scott replied.

"What?" Stiles asked, looking at the wound himself.

"I don't get it. The doctor said she'd be fine," Stiles said.

"Yeah she may be, but the bites not healing like it did with Scott. Which means-"

"She's not a werewolf.," Scott finished for me.

"Then what the hell is she?" I asked, looking up at them. They looked at me nonplussed. I shrugged in confusion.

I was getting ready for bed, a couple of days later when Derek visited me. He was in through the window in seconds, coming behind me and hugging me to him firmly. I relaxed immediately as my powers sensed it was him.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," He replied, his head on my shoulder. I turned my head to the side and let him kiss me. Then he turned me around and began to kiss me fully, his hands roaming over my body.

"Stay." Was all I said as we broke apart. He pulled away and looked at me with apprehension.

"Not. Not like that," I said. "Just stay," I added. He nodded and pulled me onto the bed with him, pulling me into his arms and wrapping the covers over us, letting the moonshine glow over us from the open window.


	13. Chapter 13: Omega

"Where's your brother?" Derek asked as he jumped through my window.

"You're in my bedroom two seconds and you're asking after my brother?' I asked him, eyebrows raised. "Raise your game, Hale." I added teasingly with a smile as I went to go to sit on the bed. Derek pulled me back to him and kissed me deeply.

"Sorry. Forgive me?" He breathed against my lips, a few seconds later.

"Forgiven," I breathed back, giggling as he pushed me onto my bed, climbing on top of me and pulling me into his arms as he trailed light kisses down my neck.

"Hmmm, you smell of Scott," He groaned, in a complaining tone.

"That's because I hugged Scott earlier when he was here, doing math with me," I replied, arching my back slightly as he kissed over my sweet spot. Derek growled slightly in response to my reply.

"Mine," He hissed to himself or to me, I couldn't tell. I smiled.

"You asking that? Or stating it?" I asked him teasingly.

"Definitely stating it," He replied, grinning. He pulled back slightly. "You do realise this is completely illegal?" He asked seriously. I sat up on my elbows.

"You mean, you and I? Our relationship?" I questioned, motioning between us. "Oh yeah. But I don't think everyone would understand the fact that in wolf mythology or fact or whatever, mates are mates and age doesn't matter," I answered. Derek still looked serious. "Look, we haven't had sex yet. We've never been seen in public and the only people who know about our relationship are also the only people who know about werewolves and the supernatural...so, we are fine," I told him, my hands going to his shoulders. "Okay, stop frowning." I added, kissing his forehead.

"The Argent's know," He stated as I pulled away.

"The Argents do not care one one bit about me as they know I'm supernatural too," I replied. "Seriously, our relationship is a whole lot safer than Scott on a whole at the moment," I added with reason. I saw he was still frowning. "Derek, no one will ever find out about us until I am legal and then they can't say a single thing. Well- they can say a lot of things but doing anything about it will not be possible," I leaned down and kissed him again and he groaned and pulled me down on top of him.

"You're a bad influence," He said. I leaned back and raised my eyebrow.

"I'm the bad influence?" I asked with a giggle as he chuckled too. I closed my eyes and then saw an image of Lydia screaming in my mind. I tensed still and Derek stopped kissing me.

"Ellie? You okay?" He asked. I nodded and he kissed my neck softly. Then, distantly we heard a female scream that sounded ghostly.

"Lydia," I breathed, confused. Derek looked at me and I looked back at him in confusion. Suddenly my phone rang and I saw it was Stiles.

"Stiles?" I asked as I answered it.

"It's Lydia," He replied. I nodded.

"I'm on my way," I said and hung up on him. I kissed Derek chastely. "I'll see you later," Derek nodded and then jumped out of the window. I made my way downstairs and then walked outside to my MINI and drove off to the hospital. I pulled up beside the jeep and climbed out, climbing into the jeep with Stiles and Scott. Scott was holding a hospital gown in his hands.

"She just took off?" I asked. Stiles nodded. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again," I added with determination.

"All right, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her," Stiles replied. Suddenly Allison appeared in front of us. "Wow!" Stiles exclaimed in shock.

"I phoned her," I explained to him and Scott.

"What are you doing here? Someone's gonna see us," Scott asked her.

"I don't care- she is one of my best friends and we need to find her before they do," Allison replied.

"I can find her before the cops can," Scott said.

"How about before my father does?" Allison asked.

"He knows?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs," Allison told me.

"Search party," Scott said.

"More like a hunting party," I muttered.

"All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" Stiles asked.

"Get in," I added to Allison and her and Scott went into the back of the jeep. We drove off.

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything, okay. All they say is 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here," Allison said. I turned to her.

"What others?" I questioned, a frown forming.

"I don't know, they won't tell me that yet," Allison replied.

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on. Scott, are we going the right way?" Stiles asked.

"Take the next right!" Scott exclaimed, head out of the window, catching Lydia's scent.

"Have you seen Derek lately?" Allison asked me, in way of conversation.

"Yeah...uh, about an hour ago, actually," I replied. Stiles shot me a look. "Oh get over it, Stiles," I groaned.

We continued tailing Lydia's scent and ended up in front of the Hale house. I groaned loudly.

"She came here? You sure?" I asked Scott.

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads," Scott replied.

"All right, but has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles asked us.

"Not with me." Allison said.

"Nor me. Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek," I suggested, looking around me.

"You mean- looking for an Alpha," Scott said. I nodded.

"Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison asked.

"Not all of them," I replied before Scott. I paused. Derek wasn't here.

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?" Allison asked.

"Yeah, we're- we're stronger in packs," Scott said.

"Like strength in numbers," Allison answered.

"No, like- like, literally stronger, faster better in every way," Scott said to her.

"That the same for an Alpha?" I asked him, curiously.

"That'll make Derek stronger too," Scott said to me. I nodded.

"Whoa, hey, look at this. You see this?" Stiles said to me as Allison and I knelt down to look at what he was holding. "I think it's a tripwire," He said.

"Stiles-" Scott said from behind us.

"Yeah, buddy," Stiles replied as we turned to him. "Oh," He said as Scott was hanging upside down inside a trap.

"Next time you see a tripwire- don't trip it," Scott said to him helpfully.

"Yeah, noted," Stiles said, apologetically. We walked towards him and he held out his hands to us.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Someone's coming. Hide. Go!" Scott said. I motioned for Stiles and Allison to go. Scott looked at me.

"It looks less stranger if I'm with you," I hissed to Scott in explanation. I turned to see Chris and two hunters with him. "Crap," I muttered to myself.

"Scott? Ellie?" Chris said, looking surprised to see me and Scott.

"Mr Argent," I greeted, politely.

"How are you both doing?" He asked.

"Good," I replied, again politeness measuring my tone.

"You know, just hang in' out. Is this one yours? It's uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting," Scott added.

"What are you doing out here, you two?" Chris asked.

"Looking for my friend and also you know, seeing if my mate is here," I replied firmly, stepping forward.

"Ah, that's right. Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it? Part of your pack?" Chris replied. I raised my eyebrows and stepped forward but Scott speaking stopped me from moving again.

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," He said.

"I hope so. 'Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's, and a special circumstance, such as yourselves- Two I can handle. Not three," Chris said, warning in his tone. I felt anger rising through me.

"Just to make it clear to you, Mr Argent and your...friends. I'm a Druid-Witch. I'm part of nature and you try to harm me- nature finds a way to exact revenge," I warned. I saw the other two hunters look nervous at each other and grinned inwardly.

"Scott, do you know what a hemicorpectomy is?" Chris asked, turning to him after a moment's silence.

"I have a feeling I don't want to." Scott replied.

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through the tissue and bone like that. Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary," Chris explained.

"And let's hope a demonstration of my powers of throwing you and your friends through a tree or a window, never becomes necessary. Now, go or I'll get angry," I said with a sweet smile. "And I really don't want to call Derek to say his mate who mythology states is a treasured, treasured thing, has been hurt by hunters, his enemies," I added, threat clear in my tone. Chris and his hunters walked off, away from us. I breathed out and felt the air around me fall still.

"You okay?" Scott asked me.

"Apart from wanting to hit him. Or kill him," I replied. "No offence." I added to Allison who reappeared with Scott.

"You two okay?" She asked us, clearly not hearing me.

"It's just another life- threatening conversation with your Dad," Scott replied, casually with a meaning look to me.

"Stiles, help me with this," Allison said.

"I think I got it," I said, concentrating and snapping my fingers. The rope cut in half and Scott dropped to the floor. "Sorry," I said with a small smile.

"No, it's fine, thanks," Scott replied. "You've been learning," He added to me.

"Well, make out sessions isn't all I've been doing with Derek over the week," I replied. Stiles groaned in hearing this and I smirked at him. "Comin'? I added as I began to walk in the direction of the Hale house.

"She ate the liver?" Scott asked us in disgust as we walked into the school the next morning

"No. I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing. And you know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body and something isn't right with her currently." I replied, felling defensive of Lydia.

"I never ate anyone's liver," Scott stated with raised eyebrows to me.

"Yeah, right, 'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self- control." Stiles retorted. "Actually, wait hold on. You're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you," He added, in thought.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked. I caught on to what Stiles was saying.

"He means like what was going on through your mind when you were turning, you know? What you were drawn to?" I asked.

"Allison," Scott replied immediately. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, nothing else? Seriously?" I asked him.

"Nothing else mattered. But, no, that's good. Right? 'Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with you two," Scott replied. I frowned as I thought back.

"Yeah...but she was looking for- Jackson," I stated as Jackson drove into his normal place. Right beside my mini. I sighed and shook my head to myself.

I was walking past the guy's locker room on a free period when Coach called me in, motioning with his hands.

"Seriously?" I asked as I saw the guys all looking at me.

"I need your appeal and warmth of heart for a moment," Coach replied off handedly. "It's about Lydia Martin," He added. I nodded in agreement immediately at the mention of her.

"I'm on a free and I don't have anything else to do," I replied.

"Let's go! I have an announcement. Gather around!" Coach called out. "Quicker. Danny, put a shirt on! Stilinski, that means you! Let's go," Soon everyone was crowded around us, looking curiously at me. "Listen up! Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, roaming around, totally naked," At this there were a few whistles. I frowned.

"You Neanderthals," I muttered, in disgust.

"Now it's supposed to get below forty degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and I was running around naked- I lost a testicle to exposure." Coach continued. I looked at him strangely.

"Was there a reason for me to be here?" I asked him. He hushed me in response. I folded my arms and clicked my tongue. I saw Scott and Stiles look at me amused.

"Now, I don't want the same thing happening to some innocent girl. So police are organising search parties for tonight, sign up. Find the missing girl, you get an automatic 'A' in my classes and will also be guaranteed Ellie as a tutor here," He finished. I looked up at him quickly.

"Woah, woah, whoah " I said, holding up my hands. "I'm not being a bribery object for your lacrosse team. Lydia is one of my best friends. If they do it, they do it genuinely because they're concerned for her...but if they do do it, then yes, I will be up to a few tutor sessions or note help," I said with a smile. I took a pen off of Coach and placed it in Danny's hand before walking to join Jackson, Stiles and Scott.

"If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?" Jackson asked arrogantly.

"Because you're a nice person and we have a pretty good idea that she might be- you know, turning," I replied, pushing him backwards as he went to walk away.

"Turning?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah, turning," Scott said.

"Into-" Jackson broke off.

"A unicorn. What do you think, dumbass?" Stiles asked. I frowned as I studied Jackson. He sensed off.

"Well, I think that if Lydia's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help," Jacksom replied.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked him.

"Oh god, you've got it all backwards, McCall. When I was with Lydia, you should have seem the stratch marks she left on me." Jackson smirked. "What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws. Heh," Jackson said, pushing past us. I sighed and leant my head on a locker.

"I'll see you both later," I spoke up as I began to walk away too, out of the locker room and down the hallway.

I saw Scott and Stiles again in Chemistry, an hour and a half later. I was sat beside Stiles.

"All right, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right," Stiles said to me, finally.

"I know," I said. I saw Scott nod in front of me.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?" Stiles then asked. I shifted uncomfortably as the same thought had crossed my mind before.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr Stilinski." Mr Harris spoke up from the front of the room. I sighed. "If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career," He continued. I looked up at him and glared slightly.

"Can you do that?' Stiles asked him. I nudged Stiles in warning.

"Well, there it is again. Your voice," Mr Harris sighed. "Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently." I raised my eyebrows at him. "I'll see you at three o clock for detention," Then Harris trained his gaze on me. "You too, Miss Stilinski?" He asked.

"No, Sir," I bit out with a sweet smile, then I glared at him openly and fully. Mr Harris looked surprised for a moment but turned away. I rolled my eyes and got back to my test, still thinking about Lydia. I then felt a strange feeling around me, like a bad omen. I turned as I saw Jackson run out of the classroom. I moved my with instincts and ran out after him, pausing momentarily to find out which direction he had gone in. I voted for the guy's rest room and went to walk in when I heard Derek's voice.

"If something's wrong, I need to know. You're with me now," He said. I frowned then realised what he meant and widened my eyes. I pushed off from the wall and walked in.

"You bit him?!" I exclaimed at Derek. Both of them looked at me shocked.

"You need to stop creeping about," Derek told me.

"And you need to explain what the hell is going on!" I shouted in response.

"Wait-with you? Me with- with you? What am I, your little pet?" Jackson asked. "I mean, just because you gave me 'the bite' doesn't mean I'm part of your little wolf pack. Sorry but to be honest, you don't exactly show outstanding leadership qualities,"

"Is that so?" Derek asked, looking bored with him.

"Look, I've got my own agenda. Which doesn't involve running around the woods at night, howling at the moon with you and McCall, or even Ellie, okay?" I frowned in offence. "So why don't you back the fu-" Jackson broke off as Derek turned his face to the mirror and I saw the blood running down from his ears. I gasped.

"What is it? What's happening?" I asked Derek, feeling slightly panicked.

"Body's fighting the bite," Derek replied, looking strange.

"Why?" Jackson asked. I put my hand on his shoulder as Derek backed away from us.

"What does it mean? What does it mean?!" Jackson demanded. I felt a tear fall down my face and tried to wipe it away before Jackson noticed. As his nose began bleeding too, I got a tissue and began to wipe it away.

"It'll be fine, Jackson. I promise," I told him. I knew Derek had gone and I swore softly to myself at his cowardness. Suddenly Jackson's hands came to cup my cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, quietly.

"Because I'm scared..." I replied, honestly.

"For me?" Jackson asked, looking surprised.

"For you," I answered, leaning my forehead against his, momentarily.

"I'll be fine...I'm just going to get on home," He said, moving away from me and almost running out of the door.

"Jackson! Jackson!" I called after him. Then I turned and slammed my hand on the wash basin, not realising I was channelling power. It broke off and fell to the floor and I felt a surge of power running through me. I groaned and ran out, to my MINI, climbing in and driving away from the school. I turned off at the animal clinic and ran through the doors to Deaton.

"You aren't on shift today, Elles?" He said in a questioning tone to me. I shook my head, hurriedly.

"I think I need that Grimoire you promised me," I replied. He just smiled and handed over the leather journal like book to me, instantly.

"Read it. Understand it. Try out the incantations. Increase your powers. If you need me. I'll be here," He said. "I can only help you so much. It's you who needs to figure out and find your full extent of your powers," He added. I nodded and ran out of the clinic and to my car. I found I had had a text from Scott. It read 'Meet me in the woods. Got a lead on Lydia.' I sighed and turned on the engine of the MINI and headed towards the woods. I climbed out of my MINI and met with Scott.

"Right, you track her. I'll just run on behind," I said to him. He nodded and walked off.

Suddenly a man appeared and I fell back with a scream.

"You're not Lydia," Scott stated. I cuffed his head.

"Genius. Who are you?" I asked the wolf. The wolf went to attack me but Scott interceded. I grabbed the gun I had stolen from Dad ages ago and still had loaded. The wolf ran off before I could actually shoot it.

"Wait!" Scott shouted. He grabbed my wrist and we began to run after the wolf. Suddenly the wolf got hauled up in a trap like the one by Derek's house. I gasped as a hand grabbed me and pulled me to a tree, then disappeared and I saw Derek had grabbed Scott as well, bringing him to the tree next to me.

"We've got to help him," I told Derek, trying to get out of his grip. He just pushed me against his body, another hand on Scott who was also struggling.

"They're already here, Ellie. You go out there, I will lose you," Derek told me, in a hissed whisper.

"I can help him!" Scott hissed to Derek.

"Quiet!" Derek hissed back. He turned me to him and kept his arm around my waist.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Chris Argent asked from behind the tree. It took me a second to realised he was talking to the werewolf.

"Nothing, nothing I swear," The wolf replied.

"You're not from here, are you? Are you?!" Chris said in return.

"No. No. I came- I came looking for the Alpha. I heard he was here. That's all. Look. I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt anyone. No one living. He wasn't alive in the ambulance. He wasn't. I swear,"

"Gentleman!" I heard an older voice say. I looked out from Derek's chest and saw the guy who had spoken. "Take a look at a rare sight. You wanna tell them we've caught?"

"An Omega," Chris said.

"The lone wolf! Possible kicked out of his own pack. Or the survivor of pack that was hunted down. Maybe even murdered. And possibly alone by his own choice. Certainly not a wise choice. Because as I am about to demonstrate- an Omega rarely survives- on his own," I watched as the Omega was cut in two. I gasped out and felt Derek turn my head into his chest protectively, shielding me from the sight.

"Look! Look at them! You see what they do? This is why you need me. Why we need each other. The only way to fight them is together," Derek told Scott.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Declaring war," Derek replied.

"We have a code," I heard Chris Argent state.

"Not when they murder my daughter." The guy replied. I frowned and then realised. This was Chris's father. Kate's father. "No code. Not anymore. From now on, these things are just bodies waiting to be cut in half. Are you listening?...because I don't care if they're wounded and weak. Or seemingly harmless- begging for their life with the promise that they will never, ever hurt anymore. Or some desperate, lost soul with no idea what they're getting into. I don't even care of they're not werewolves anymore. As long as they're supernatural...we find them. We kill them. We kill them all," I sagged against Derek's body and felt him grip me tighter. It wasn't just about Derek or Jackson or Scott anymore. The Argent's- the hunters were coming after me now and Lydia too, whatever she actually was. Well, hell.


End file.
